diff --git a/hw/ipmi/ipmi_bmc_sim.c b/hw/ipmi/ipmi_bmc_sim.c
index dc9c14c..17c7c0e 100644
--- a/hw/ipmi/ipmi_bmc_sim.c
+++ b/hw/ipmi/ipmi_bmc_sim.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ static void ipmi_sim_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     ibs->acpi_power_state[1] = 0;
 
     if (qemu_uuid_set) {
-        memcpy(&ibs->uuid, qemu_uuid, 16);
+        memcpy(&ibs->uuid, &qemu_uuid, 16);
     } else {
         memset(&ibs->uuid, 0, 16);
     }
diff --git a/hw/nvram/fw_cfg.c b/hw/nvram/fw_cfg.c
index 6a68e59..0118299 100644
--- a/hw/nvram/fw_cfg.c
+++ b/hw/nvram/fw_cfg.c
@@ -883,7 +883,7 @@ static void fw_cfg_init1(DeviceState *dev)
     qdev_init_nofail(dev);
 
     fw_cfg_add_bytes(s, FW_CFG_SIGNATURE, (char *)"QEMU", 4);
-    fw_cfg_add_bytes(s, FW_CFG_UUID, qemu_uuid, 16);
+    fw_cfg_add_bytes(s, FW_CFG_UUID, &qemu_uuid, 16);
     fw_cfg_add_i16(s, FW_CFG_NOGRAPHIC, (uint16_t)!machine->enable_graphics);
     fw_cfg_add_i16(s, FW_CFG_NB_CPUS, (uint16_t)smp_cpus);
     fw_cfg_add_i16(s, FW_CFG_BOOT_MENU, (uint16_t)boot_menu);
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 30d6800..fba9de7 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -375,12 +375,7 @@ static void *spapr_create_fdt_skel(hwaddr initrd_base,
         g_free(buf);
     }
 
-    buf = g_strdup_printf(UUID_FMT, qemu_uuid[0], qemu_uuid[1],
-                          qemu_uuid[2], qemu_uuid[3], qemu_uuid[4],
-                          qemu_uuid[5], qemu_uuid[6], qemu_uuid[7],
-                          qemu_uuid[8], qemu_uuid[9], qemu_uuid[10],
-                          qemu_uuid[11], qemu_uuid[12], qemu_uuid[13],
-                          qemu_uuid[14], qemu_uuid[15]);
+    buf = qemu_uuid_unparse_strdup(&qemu_uuid);
 
     _FDT((fdt_property_string(fdt, "vm,uuid", buf)));
     if (qemu_uuid_set) {
diff --git a/hw/smbios/smbios.c b/hw/smbios/smbios.c
index 0705eb1..3ae3047 100644
--- a/hw/smbios/smbios.c
+++ b/hw/smbios/smbios.c
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ static void smbios_build_type_1_fields(void)
          * BIOS.
          */
         smbios_add_field(1, offsetof(struct smbios_type_1, uuid),
-                         qemu_uuid, 16);
+                         &qemu_uuid, 16);
     }
 }
 
@@ -484,9 +484,9 @@ static void smbios_build_type_0_table(void)
 /* Encode UUID from the big endian encoding described on RFC4122 to the wire
  * format specified by SMBIOS version 2.6.
  */
-static void smbios_encode_uuid(struct smbios_uuid *uuid, const uint8_t *buf)
+static void smbios_encode_uuid(struct smbios_uuid *uuid, QemuUUID *in)
 {
-    memcpy(uuid, buf, 16);
+    memcpy(uuid, &in, 16);
     if (smbios_uuid_encoded) {
         uuid->time_low = bswap32(uuid->time_low);
         uuid->time_mid = bswap16(uuid->time_mid);
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ static void smbios_build_type_1_table(void)
     SMBIOS_TABLE_SET_STR(1, version_str, type1.version);
     SMBIOS_TABLE_SET_STR(1, serial_number_str, type1.serial);
     if (qemu_uuid_set) {
-        smbios_encode_uuid(&t->uuid, qemu_uuid);
+        smbios_encode_uuid(&t->uuid, &qemu_uuid);
     } else {
         memset(&t->uuid, 0, 16);
     }
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ void smbios_entry_add(QemuOpts *opts)
 
             val = qemu_opt_get(opts, "uuid");
             if (val) {
-                if (qemu_uuid_parse(val, qemu_uuid) != 0) {
+                if (qemu_uuid_parse(val, &qemu_uuid) != 0) {
                     error_report("Invalid UUID");
                     exit(1);
                 }
diff --git a/hw/xenpv/xen_domainbuild.c b/hw/xenpv/xen_domainbuild.c
index 5a9f5ac..b439b0e 100644
--- a/hw/xenpv/xen_domainbuild.c
+++ b/hw/xenpv/xen_domainbuild.c
@@ -53,11 +53,7 @@ int xenstore_domain_init1(const char *kernel, const char *ramdisk,
     char *dom, uuid_string[42], vm[256], path[256];
     int i;
 
-    snprintf(uuid_string, sizeof(uuid_string), UUID_FMT,
-             qemu_uuid[0], qemu_uuid[1], qemu_uuid[2], qemu_uuid[3],
-             qemu_uuid[4], qemu_uuid[5], qemu_uuid[6], qemu_uuid[7],
-             qemu_uuid[8], qemu_uuid[9], qemu_uuid[10], qemu_uuid[11],
-             qemu_uuid[12], qemu_uuid[13], qemu_uuid[14], qemu_uuid[15]);
+    qemu_uuid_unparse(&qemu_uuid, uuid_string);
     dom = xs_get_domain_path(xenstore, xen_domid);
     snprintf(vm,  sizeof(vm),  "/vm/%s", uuid_string);
 
diff --git a/include/qemu/uuid.h b/include/qemu/uuid.h
index 1b2b564..bbc4c0a 100644
--- a/include/qemu/uuid.h
+++ b/include/qemu/uuid.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void qemu_uuid_unparse(const QemuUUID *uuid, char *out);
 
 char *qemu_uuid_unparse_strdup(const QemuUUID *uuid);
 
-int qemu_uuid_parse(const char *str, uint8_t *uuid);
+int qemu_uuid_parse(const char *str, QemuUUID *uuid);
 
 void qemu_uuid_bswap(QemuUUID *uuid);
 
diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 6111950..ef2c50b 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "qemu/notify.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "qemu/bitmap.h"
+#include "qemu/uuid.h"
 #include "qom/object.h"
 
 /* vl.c */
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@
 extern const char *bios_name;
 
 extern const char *qemu_name;
-extern uint8_t qemu_uuid[];
+extern QemuUUID qemu_uuid;
 extern bool qemu_uuid_set;
 
 bool runstate_check(RunState state);
diff --git a/qmp.c b/qmp.c
index 0b65ba3..c579a7f 100644
--- a/qmp.c
+++ b/qmp.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
 #include "hw/mem/pc-dimm.h"
 #include "hw/acpi/acpi_dev_interface.h"
+#include "qemu/uuid.h"
 
 NameInfo *qmp_query_name(Error **errp)
 {
@@ -85,15 +86,8 @@ KvmInfo *qmp_query_kvm(Error **errp)
 UuidInfo *qmp_query_uuid(Error **errp)
 {
     UuidInfo *info = g_malloc0(sizeof(*info));
-    char uuid[64];
 
-    snprintf(uuid, sizeof(uuid), UUID_FMT, qemu_uuid[0], qemu_uuid[1],
-                   qemu_uuid[2], qemu_uuid[3], qemu_uuid[4], qemu_uuid[5],
-                   qemu_uuid[6], qemu_uuid[7], qemu_uuid[8], qemu_uuid[9],
-                   qemu_uuid[10], qemu_uuid[11], qemu_uuid[12], qemu_uuid[13],
-                   qemu_uuid[14], qemu_uuid[15]);
-
-    info->UUID = g_strdup(uuid);
+    info->UUID = qemu_uuid_unparse_strdup(&qemu_uuid);
     return info;
 }
 
diff --git a/util/uuid.c b/util/uuid.c
index bc82310..0cec4de 100644
--- a/util/uuid.c
+++ b/util/uuid.c
@@ -62,18 +62,19 @@ char *qemu_uuid_unparse_strdup(const QemuUUID *uuid)
                            uu[13], uu[14], uu[15]);
 }
 
-int qemu_uuid_parse(const char *str, uint8_t *uuid)
+int qemu_uuid_parse(const char *str, QemuUUID *uuid)
 {
+    unsigned char *uu = &uuid->data[0];
     int ret;
 
     if (strlen(str) != 36) {
         return -1;
     }
 
-    ret = sscanf(str, UUID_FMT, &uuid[0], &uuid[1], &uuid[2], &uuid[3],
-                 &uuid[4], &uuid[5], &uuid[6], &uuid[7], &uuid[8], &uuid[9],
-                 &uuid[10], &uuid[11], &uuid[12], &uuid[13], &uuid[14],
-                 &uuid[15]);
+    ret = sscanf(str, UUID_FMT, &uu[0], &uu[1], &uu[2], &uu[3],
+                 &uu[4], &uu[5], &uu[6], &uu[7], &uu[8], &uu[9],
+                 &uu[10], &uu[11], &uu[12], &uu[13], &uu[14],
+                 &uu[15]);
 
     if (ret != 16) {
         return -1;
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index ceddef4..24dfef9 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -182,10 +182,10 @@ uint8_t qemu_extra_params_fw[2];
 
 int icount_align_option;
 
-/* The bytes in qemu_uuid[] are in the order specified by RFC4122, _not_ in the
+/* The bytes in qemu_uuid are in the order specified by RFC4122, _not_ in the
  * little-endian "wire format" described in the SMBIOS 2.6 specification.
  */
-uint8_t qemu_uuid[16];
+QemuUUID qemu_uuid;
 bool qemu_uuid_set;
 
 static NotifierList exit_notifiers =
@@ -3725,7 +3725,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 cursor_hide = 0;
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_uuid:
-                if(qemu_uuid_parse(optarg, qemu_uuid) < 0) {
+                if (qemu_uuid_parse(optarg, &qemu_uuid) < 0) {
                     error_report("failed to parse UUID string: wrong format");
                     exit(1);
                 }
