diff --git a/hw/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio-pci.c
index 3911b09..952b5d2 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-pci.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "virtio.h"
 #include "virtio-blk.h"
 #include "virtio-net.h"
+#include "virtio-serial.h"
 #include "pci.h"
 #include "qemu-error.h"
 #include "msix.h"
@@ -109,8 +110,7 @@ typedef struct {
 #ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
     V9fsConf fsconf;
 #endif
-    /* Max. number of ports we can have for a the virtio-serial device */
-    uint32_t max_virtserial_ports;
+    virtio_serial_conf serial;
     virtio_net_conf net;
     bool ioeventfd_disabled;
     bool ioeventfd_started;
@@ -770,12 +770,12 @@ static int virtio_serial_init_pci(PCIDevice *pci_dev)
         proxy->class_code != PCI_CLASS_OTHERS)          /* qemu-kvm  */
         proxy->class_code = PCI_CLASS_COMMUNICATION_OTHER;
 
-    vdev = virtio_serial_init(&pci_dev->qdev, proxy->max_virtserial_ports);
+    vdev = virtio_serial_init(&pci_dev->qdev, &proxy->serial);
     if (!vdev) {
         return -1;
     }
     vdev->nvectors = proxy->nvectors == DEV_NVECTORS_UNSPECIFIED
-                                        ? proxy->max_virtserial_ports + 1
+                                        ? proxy->serial.max_virtserial_ports + 1
                                         : proxy->nvectors;
     virtio_init_pci(proxy, vdev,
                     PCI_VENDOR_ID_REDHAT_QUMRANET,
@@ -902,8 +902,8 @@ static PCIDeviceInfo virtio_info[] = {
                                DEV_NVECTORS_UNSPECIFIED),
             DEFINE_PROP_HEX32("class", VirtIOPCIProxy, class_code, 0),
             DEFINE_VIRTIO_COMMON_FEATURES(VirtIOPCIProxy, host_features),
-            DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("max_ports", VirtIOPCIProxy, max_virtserial_ports,
-                               31),
+            DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("max_ports", VirtIOPCIProxy,
+                               serial.max_virtserial_ports, 31),
             DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
         },
         .qdev.reset = virtio_pci_reset,
diff --git a/hw/virtio-serial-bus.c b/hw/virtio-serial-bus.c
index 8446bc2..c6feb43 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-serial-bus.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-serial-bus.c
@@ -811,19 +811,19 @@ void virtio_serial_port_qdev_register(VirtIOSerialPortInfo *info)
     qdev_register(&info->qdev);
 }
 
-VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, uint32_t max_nr_ports)
+VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, virtio_serial_conf *conf)
 {
     VirtIOSerial *vser;
     VirtIODevice *vdev;
     uint32_t i, max_supported_ports;
 
-    if (!max_nr_ports)
+    if (!conf->max_virtserial_ports)
         return NULL;
 
     /* Each port takes 2 queues, and one pair is for the control queue */
     max_supported_ports = VIRTIO_PCI_QUEUE_MAX / 2 - 1;
 
-    if (max_nr_ports > max_supported_ports) {
+    if (conf->max_virtserial_ports > max_supported_ports) {
         error_report("maximum ports supported: %u", max_supported_ports);
         return NULL;
     }
@@ -839,9 +839,9 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, uint32_t max_nr_ports)
     vser->bus->vser = vser;
     QTAILQ_INIT(&vser->ports);
 
-    vser->bus->max_nr_ports = max_nr_ports;
-    vser->ivqs = qemu_malloc(max_nr_ports * sizeof(VirtQueue *));
-    vser->ovqs = qemu_malloc(max_nr_ports * sizeof(VirtQueue *));
+    vser->bus->max_nr_ports = conf->max_virtserial_ports;
+    vser->ivqs = qemu_malloc(conf->max_virtserial_ports * sizeof(VirtQueue *));
+    vser->ovqs = qemu_malloc(conf->max_virtserial_ports * sizeof(VirtQueue *));
 
     /* Add a queue for host to guest transfers for port 0 (backward compat) */
     vser->ivqs[0] = virtio_add_queue(vdev, 128, handle_input);
@@ -866,8 +866,8 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, uint32_t max_nr_ports)
         vser->ovqs[i] = virtio_add_queue(vdev, 128, handle_output);
     }
 
-    vser->config.max_nr_ports = max_nr_ports;
-    vser->ports_map = qemu_mallocz(((max_nr_ports + 31) / 32)
+    vser->config.max_nr_ports = conf->max_virtserial_ports;
+    vser->ports_map = qemu_mallocz(((conf->max_virtserial_ports + 31) / 32)
         * sizeof(vser->ports_map[0]));
     /*
      * Reserve location 0 for a console port for backward compat
diff --git a/hw/virtio-serial.h b/hw/virtio-serial.h
index 8cb9fbe..5eb948e 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-serial.h
+++ b/hw/virtio-serial.h
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ struct virtio_console_control {
     uint16_t value;		/* Extra information for the key */
 };
 
+struct virtio_serial_conf {
+    /* Max. number of ports we can have for a virtio-serial device */
+    uint32_t max_virtserial_ports;
+};
+
 /* Some events for the internal messages (control packets) */
 #define VIRTIO_CONSOLE_DEVICE_READY	0
 #define VIRTIO_CONSOLE_PORT_ADD		1
diff --git a/hw/virtio.h b/hw/virtio.h
index 31d16e1..d0920a8 100644
--- a/hw/virtio.h
+++ b/hw/virtio.h
@@ -195,7 +195,8 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_blk_init(DeviceState *dev, BlockConf *conf);
 struct virtio_net_conf;
 VirtIODevice *virtio_net_init(DeviceState *dev, NICConf *conf,
                               struct virtio_net_conf *net);
-VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, uint32_t max_nr_ports);
+typedef struct virtio_serial_conf virtio_serial_conf;
+VirtIODevice *virtio_serial_init(DeviceState *dev, virtio_serial_conf *serial);
 VirtIODevice *virtio_balloon_init(DeviceState *dev);
 #ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
 VirtIODevice *virtio_9p_init(DeviceState *dev, V9fsConf *conf);
