diff --git a/hw/qdev.c b/hw/qdev.c
index d3bf0fa..fe49e71 100644
--- a/hw/qdev.c
+++ b/hw/qdev.c
@@ -515,28 +515,41 @@ static BusState *qbus_find_bus(DeviceState *dev, char *elem)
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static DeviceState *qbus_find_dev(BusState *bus, char *elem)
+static DeviceState *qbus_find_dev(BusState *bus, const char *elem)
 {
     DeviceState *dev;
+    int instance, n;
+    char buf[128];
 
     /*
      * try to match in order:
      *   (1) instance id, if present
-     *   (2) driver name
-     *   (3) driver alias, if present
+     *   (2) driver name [.instance]
+     *   (3) driver alias [.instance], if present
      */
     QLIST_FOREACH(dev, &bus->children, sibling) {
         if (dev->id  &&  strcmp(dev->id, elem) == 0) {
             return dev;
         }
     }
+
+    if (sscanf(elem, "%127[^.].%u", buf, &instance) == 2) {
+        elem = buf;
+    } else {
+        instance = 0;
+    }
+
+    n = 0;
     QLIST_FOREACH(dev, &bus->children, sibling) {
-        if (strcmp(dev->info->name, elem) == 0) {
+        if (strcmp(dev->info->name, elem) == 0 && n++ == instance) {
             return dev;
         }
     }
+
+    n = 0;
     QLIST_FOREACH(dev, &bus->children, sibling) {
-        if (dev->info->alias && strcmp(dev->info->alias, elem) == 0) {
+        if (dev->info->alias && strcmp(dev->info->alias, elem) == 0 &&
+            n++ == instance) {
             return dev;
         }
     }