diff --git a/hw/i386/pc.c b/hw/i386/pc.c
index 35fcb6efdf..d3e1d50b59 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc.c
@@ -1619,18 +1619,19 @@ void pc_basic_device_init(ISABus *isa_bus, qemu_irq *gsi,
     }
 }
 
-void pc_nic_init(ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus)
+void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus)
 {
     int i;
 
     rom_set_order_override(FW_CFG_ORDER_OVERRIDE_NIC);
     for (i = 0; i < nb_nics; i++) {
         NICInfo *nd = &nd_table[i];
+        const char *model = nd->model ? nd->model : pcmc->default_nic_model;
 
-        if (!pci_bus || (nd->model && strcmp(nd->model, "ne2k_isa") == 0)) {
+        if (!strcmp(model, "ne2k_isa")) {
             pc_init_ne2k_isa(isa_bus, nd);
         } else {
-            pci_nic_init_nofail(nd, pci_bus, "e1000", NULL);
+            pci_nic_init_nofail(nd, pci_bus, model, NULL);
         }
     }
     rom_reset_order_override();
diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
index 8658bcba63..0f1966d547 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_piix.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ static void pc_init1(MachineState *machine,
     pc_basic_device_init(isa_bus, pcms->gsi, &rtc_state, true,
                          (pcms->vmport != ON_OFF_AUTO_ON), pcms->pit, 0x4);
 
-    pc_nic_init(isa_bus, pci_bus);
+    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, pci_bus);
 
     ide_drive_get(hd, ARRAY_SIZE(hd));
     if (pcmc->pci_enabled) {
@@ -417,6 +417,9 @@ static void pc_xen_hvm_init(MachineState *machine)
 
 static void pc_i440fx_machine_options(MachineClass *m)
 {
+    PCMachineClass *pcmc = PC_MACHINE_CLASS(m);
+    pcmc->default_nic_model = "e1000";
+
     m->family = "pc_piix";
     m->desc = "Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)";
     m->default_machine_opts = "firmware=bios-256k.bin";
@@ -1114,6 +1117,7 @@ static void isapc_machine_options(MachineClass *m)
     pcmc->gigabyte_align = false;
     pcmc->smbios_legacy_mode = true;
     pcmc->has_reserved_memory = false;
+    pcmc->default_nic_model = "ne2k_isa";
     m->default_cpu_type = X86_CPU_TYPE_NAME("486");
 }
 
diff --git a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
index 0c0bc48137..9ae916327e 100644
--- a/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
+++ b/hw/i386/pc_q35.c
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ static void pc_q35_init(MachineState *machine)
 
     /* the rest devices to which pci devfn is automatically assigned */
     pc_vga_init(isa_bus, host_bus);
-    pc_nic_init(isa_bus, host_bus);
+    pc_nic_init(pcmc, isa_bus, host_bus);
 
     if (pcms->acpi_nvdimm_state.is_enabled) {
         nvdimm_init_acpi_state(&pcms->acpi_nvdimm_state, system_io,
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@ static void pc_q35_init(MachineState *machine)
 
 static void pc_q35_machine_options(MachineClass *m)
 {
+    PCMachineClass *pcmc = PC_MACHINE_CLASS(m);
+    pcmc->default_nic_model = "e1000e";
+
     m->family = "pc_q35";
     m->desc = "Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)";
     m->units_per_default_bus = 1;
@@ -316,7 +319,10 @@ DEFINE_Q35_MACHINE(v2_12, "pc-q35-2.12", NULL,
 
 static void pc_q35_2_11_machine_options(MachineClass *m)
 {
+    PCMachineClass *pcmc = PC_MACHINE_CLASS(m);
+
     pc_q35_2_12_machine_options(m);
+    pcmc->default_nic_model = "e1000";
     m->alias = NULL;
     SET_MACHINE_COMPAT(m, PC_COMPAT_2_11);
 }
diff --git a/hw/pci/pci.c b/hw/pci/pci.c
index aa24a26680..3b0df51983 100644
--- a/hw/pci/pci.c
+++ b/hw/pci/pci.c
@@ -1829,7 +1829,7 @@ PCIDevice *pci_nic_init_nofail(NICInfo *nd, PCIBus *rootbus,
     int devfn;
     int i;
 
-    if (!strcmp(nd->model, "virtio")) {
+    if (nd->model && !strcmp(nd->model, "virtio")) {
         g_free(nd->model);
         nd->model = g_strdup("virtio-net-pci");
     }
diff --git a/include/hw/i386/pc.h b/include/hw/i386/pc.h
index bb49165fe0..e81654eb7f 100644
--- a/include/hw/i386/pc.h
+++ b/include/hw/i386/pc.h
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ struct PCMachineClass {
     /* Device configuration: */
     bool pci_enabled;
     bool kvmclock_enabled;
+    const char *default_nic_model;
 
     /* Compat options: */
 
@@ -248,7 +249,7 @@ void pc_init_ne2k_isa(ISABus *bus, NICInfo *nd);
 void pc_cmos_init(PCMachineState *pcms,
                   BusState *ide0, BusState *ide1,
                   ISADevice *s);
-void pc_nic_init(ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus);
+void pc_nic_init(PCMachineClass *pcmc, ISABus *isa_bus, PCIBus *pci_bus);
 void pc_pci_device_init(PCIBus *pci_bus);
 
 typedef void (*cpu_set_smm_t)(int smm, void *arg);
