diff --git a/hw/ppc/e500plat.c b/hw/ppc/e500plat.c
index 2e964b2..4be4b24 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/e500plat.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/e500plat.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "hw/pci/pci.h"
 #include "hw/ppc/openpic.h"
 #include "kvm_ppc.h"
+#include "kvmtype.h"
 
 static void e500plat_fixup_devtree(PPCE500Params *params, void *fdt)
 {
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ static QEMUMachine e500plat_machine = {
     .desc = "generic paravirt e500 platform",
     .init = e500plat_init,
     .max_cpus = 32,
+    .kvm_type = pr_kvm_type,
 };
 
 static void e500plat_machine_init(void)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/kvmtype.h b/hw/ppc/kvmtype.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbe4f50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/ppc/kvmtype.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#ifndef PPC_KVMTYPE_H
+#define PPC_KVMTYPE_H
+
+static inline int pr_kvm_type(const char *vm_type)
+{
+    if (!vm_type) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    if (!strcmp(vm_type, "PR")) {
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    hw_error("Unknown kvm_type specified '%s'", vm_type);
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/hw/ppc/mac_newworld.c b/hw/ppc/mac_newworld.c
index 5e79575..0e09800 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/mac_newworld.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/mac_newworld.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 #include "sysemu/blockdev.h"
 #include "exec/address-spaces.h"
 #include "hw/sysbus.h"
+#include "kvmtype.h"
 
 #define MAX_IDE_BUS 2
 #define CFG_ADDR 0xf0000510
@@ -478,6 +479,7 @@ static QEMUMachine core99_machine = {
     .init = ppc_core99_init,
     .max_cpus = MAX_CPUS,
     .default_boot_order = "cd",
+    .kvm_type = pr_kvm_type,
 };
 
 static void core99_machine_init(void)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/mac_oldworld.c b/hw/ppc/mac_oldworld.c
index 2f27754..02b200e 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/mac_oldworld.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/mac_oldworld.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include "kvm_ppc.h"
 #include "sysemu/blockdev.h"
 #include "exec/address-spaces.h"
+#include "kvmtype.h"
 
 #define MAX_IDE_BUS 2
 #define CFG_ADDR 0xf0000510
@@ -351,6 +352,7 @@ static QEMUMachine heathrow_machine = {
     .is_default = 1,
 #endif
     .default_boot_order = "cd", /* TOFIX "cad" when Mac floppy is implemented */
+    .kvm_type = pr_kvm_type,
 };
 
 static void heathrow_machine_init(void)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
index 655e499..903d305 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "ppc405.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "hw/sysbus.h"
+#include "kvmtype.h"
 
 #define BINARY_DEVICE_TREE_FILE "bamboo.dtb"
 
@@ -296,6 +297,7 @@ static QEMUMachine bamboo_machine = {
     .name = "bamboo",
     .desc = "bamboo",
     .init = bamboo_init,
+    .kvm_type = pr_kvm_type,
 };
 
 static void bamboo_machine_init(void)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 8bf886e..5733396 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -1346,6 +1346,24 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(QEMUMachineInitArgs *args)
     assert(spapr->fdt_skel != NULL);
 }
 
+static int spapr_kvm_type(const char *vm_type)
+{
+    if (!vm_type) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    if (!strcmp(vm_type, "HV")) {
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    if (!strcmp(vm_type, "PR")) {
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    hw_error("Unknown kvm_type specified '%s'", vm_type);
+    exit(1);
+}
+
 static QEMUMachine spapr_machine = {
     .name = "pseries",
     .desc = "pSeries Logical Partition (PAPR compliant)",
@@ -1356,6 +1374,7 @@ static QEMUMachine spapr_machine = {
     .max_cpus = MAX_CPUS,
     .no_parallel = 1,
     .default_boot_order = NULL,
+    .kvm_type = spapr_kvm_type,
 };
 
 static void spapr_machine_init(void)
diff --git a/include/hw/boards.h b/include/hw/boards.h
index 5a7ae9f..4d93bca 100644
--- a/include/hw/boards.h
+++ b/include/hw/boards.h
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ typedef void QEMUMachineResetFunc(void);
 
 typedef void QEMUMachineHotAddCPUFunc(const int64_t id, Error **errp);
 
+typedef int QEMUMachineGetKvmtypeFunc(const char *arg);
+
 typedef struct QEMUMachine {
     const char *name;
     const char *alias;
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ typedef struct QEMUMachine {
     QEMUMachineInitFunc *init;
     QEMUMachineResetFunc *reset;
     QEMUMachineHotAddCPUFunc *hot_add_cpu;
+    QEMUMachineGetKvmtypeFunc *kvm_type;
     BlockInterfaceType block_default_type;
     int max_cpus;
     unsigned int no_serial:1,
diff --git a/include/hw/xen/xen.h b/include/hw/xen/xen.h
index e1f88bf..acc3d74 100644
--- a/include/hw/xen/xen.h
+++ b/include/hw/xen/xen.h
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ void xen_cmos_set_s3_resume(void *opaque, int irq, int level);
 
 qemu_irq *xen_interrupt_controller_init(void);
 
-int xen_init(void);
+typedef struct QEMUMachine QEMUMachine;
+int xen_init(QEMUMachine *machine);
 int xen_hvm_init(MemoryRegion **ram_memory);
 void xenstore_store_pv_console_info(int i, struct CharDriverState *chr);
 
diff --git a/include/sysemu/kvm.h b/include/sysemu/kvm.h
index 9bbe3db..f25caec 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/kvm.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/kvm.h
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ typedef struct KVMState KVMState;
 extern KVMState *kvm_state;
 
 /* external API */
-
-int kvm_init(void);
+typedef struct QEMUMachine QEMUMachine;
+int kvm_init(QEMUMachine *machine);
 
 int kvm_has_sync_mmu(void);
 int kvm_has_vcpu_events(void);
diff --git a/include/sysemu/qtest.h b/include/sysemu/qtest.h
index 9a0c6b3..d71343d 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/qtest.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/qtest.h
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ static inline int qtest_available(void)
     return 1;
 }
 
-int qtest_init(void);
+typedef struct QEMUMachine QEMUMachine;
+int qtest_init(QEMUMachine *machine);
 #else
 static inline bool qtest_enabled(void)
 {
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ static inline int qtest_available(void)
     return 0;
 }
 
-static inline int qtest_init(void)
+static inline int qtest_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/kvm-all.c b/kvm-all.c
index b87215c..6c4c722 100644
--- a/kvm-all.c
+++ b/kvm-all.c
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@
 #include "qemu/event_notifier.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 
+#include "hw/boards.h"
+
 /* This check must be after config-host.h is included */
 #ifdef CONFIG_EVENTFD
 #include <sys/eventfd.h>
@@ -1342,7 +1344,7 @@ static int kvm_max_vcpus(KVMState *s)
     return 4;
 }
 
-int kvm_init(void)
+int kvm_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     static const char upgrade_note[] =
         "Please upgrade to at least kernel 2.6.29 or recent kvm-kmod\n"
@@ -1350,8 +1352,9 @@ int kvm_init(void)
     KVMState *s;
     const KVMCapabilityInfo *missing_cap;
     int ret;
-    int i;
+    int i, type = 0;
     int max_vcpus;
+    const char *kvm_type;
 
     s = g_malloc0(sizeof(KVMState));
 
@@ -1407,7 +1410,14 @@ int kvm_init(void)
         goto err;
     }
 
-    s->vmfd = kvm_ioctl(s, KVM_CREATE_VM, 0);
+    kvm_type = qemu_opt_get(qemu_get_machine_opts(), "kvm_type");
+    if (machine->kvm_type) {
+        type = machine->kvm_type(kvm_type);
+    } else if (kvm_type) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Invalid argument kvm_type=%s\n", kvm_type);
+        goto err;
+    }
+    s->vmfd = kvm_ioctl(s, KVM_CREATE_VM, type);
     if (s->vmfd < 0) {
 #ifdef TARGET_S390X
         fprintf(stderr, "Please add the 'switch_amode' kernel parameter to "
diff --git a/kvm-stub.c b/kvm-stub.c
index 548f471..ccb7b8c 100644
--- a/kvm-stub.c
+++ b/kvm-stub.c
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #include "hw/pci/msi.h"
 #endif
 
+#include "hw/boards.h"
+
 KVMState *kvm_state;
 bool kvm_kernel_irqchip;
 bool kvm_async_interrupts_allowed;
@@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ int kvm_init_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
     return -ENOSYS;
 }
 
-int kvm_init(void)
+int kvm_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     return -ENOSYS;
 }
diff --git a/qtest.c b/qtest.c
index 584c707..ef3c473 100644
--- a/qtest.c
+++ b/qtest.c
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ static void qtest_event(void *opaque, int event)
     }
 }
 
-int qtest_init(void)
+int qtest_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     CharDriverState *chr;
 
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 4e709d5..0a455b6 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -427,7 +427,12 @@ static QemuOptsList qemu_machine_opts = {
             .name = "usb",
             .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
             .help = "Set on/off to enable/disable usb",
+        },{
+            .name = "kvm_type",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+            .help = "Specifies the KVM virtualization mode (HV, PR)",
         },
+
         { /* End of list */ }
     },
 };
@@ -2608,7 +2613,7 @@ static QEMUMachine *machine_parse(const char *name)
     exit(!name || !is_help_option(name));
 }
 
-static int tcg_init(void)
+static int tcg_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     tcg_exec_init(tcg_tb_size * 1024 * 1024);
     return 0;
@@ -2618,7 +2623,7 @@ static struct {
     const char *opt_name;
     const char *name;
     int (*available)(void);
-    int (*init)(void);
+    int (*init)(QEMUMachine *);
     bool *allowed;
 } accel_list[] = {
     { "tcg", "tcg", tcg_available, tcg_init, &tcg_allowed },
@@ -2627,7 +2632,7 @@ static struct {
     { "qtest", "QTest", qtest_available, qtest_init, &qtest_allowed },
 };
 
-static int configure_accelerator(void)
+static int configure_accelerator(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     const char *p;
     char buf[10];
@@ -2654,7 +2659,7 @@ static int configure_accelerator(void)
                     continue;
                 }
                 *(accel_list[i].allowed) = true;
-                ret = accel_list[i].init();
+                ret = accel_list[i].init(machine);
                 if (ret < 0) {
                     init_failed = true;
                     fprintf(stderr, "failed to initialize %s: %s\n",
@@ -4037,10 +4042,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         exit(0);
     }
 
-    configure_accelerator();
+    configure_accelerator(machine);
 
     if (!qtest_enabled() && qtest_chrdev) {
-        qtest_init();
+        qtest_init(machine);
     }
 
     machine_opts = qemu_get_machine_opts();
diff --git a/xen-all.c b/xen-all.c
index 839f14f..ac3654b 100644
--- a/xen-all.c
+++ b/xen-all.c
@@ -1000,7 +1000,7 @@ static void xen_exit_notifier(Notifier *n, void *data)
     xs_daemon_close(state->xenstore);
 }
 
-int xen_init(void)
+int xen_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     xen_xc = xen_xc_interface_open(0, 0, 0);
     if (xen_xc == XC_HANDLER_INITIAL_VALUE) {
diff --git a/xen-stub.c b/xen-stub.c
index ad189a6..59927cb 100644
--- a/xen-stub.c
+++ b/xen-stub.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ qemu_irq *xen_interrupt_controller_init(void)
     return NULL;
 }
 
-int xen_init(void)
+int xen_init(QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     return -ENOSYS;
 }
