diff --git a/target/nios2/cpu.h b/target/nios2/cpu.h
index 86bbe1d8670..b7efb54ba7e 100644
--- a/target/nios2/cpu.h
+++ b/target/nios2/cpu.h
@@ -201,7 +201,6 @@ void nios2_cpu_do_unaligned_access(CPUState *cpu, vaddr addr,
                                    MMUAccessType access_type,
                                    int mmu_idx, uintptr_t retaddr);
 
-qemu_irq *nios2_cpu_pic_init(Nios2CPU *cpu);
 void nios2_check_interrupts(CPUNios2State *env);
 
 void do_nios2_semihosting(CPUNios2State *env);
diff --git a/hw/intc/nios2_iic.c b/hw/intc/nios2_iic.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 216db670594..00000000000
--- a/hw/intc/nios2_iic.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,95 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * QEMU Altera Internal Interrupt Controller.
- *
- * Copyright (c) 2012 Chris Wulff <crwulff@gmail.com>
- *
- * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
- * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
- * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
- * Lesser General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License along with this library; if not, see
- * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html>
- */
-
-#include "qemu/osdep.h"
-#include "qemu/module.h"
-#include "qapi/error.h"
-
-#include "hw/irq.h"
-#include "hw/sysbus.h"
-#include "cpu.h"
-#include "qom/object.h"
-
-#define TYPE_ALTERA_IIC "altera,iic"
-OBJECT_DECLARE_SIMPLE_TYPE(AlteraIIC, ALTERA_IIC)
-
-struct AlteraIIC {
-    SysBusDevice  parent_obj;
-    void         *cpu;
-    qemu_irq      parent_irq;
-};
-
-static void update_irq(AlteraIIC *pv)
-{
-    CPUNios2State *env = &((Nios2CPU *)(pv->cpu))->env;
-
-    qemu_set_irq(pv->parent_irq,
-                 env->regs[CR_IPENDING] & env->regs[CR_IENABLE]);
-}
-
-static void irq_handler(void *opaque, int irq, int level)
-{
-    AlteraIIC *pv = opaque;
-    CPUNios2State *env = &((Nios2CPU *)(pv->cpu))->env;
-
-    env->regs[CR_IPENDING] &= ~(1 << irq);
-    env->regs[CR_IPENDING] |= !!level << irq;
-
-    update_irq(pv);
-}
-
-static void altera_iic_init(Object *obj)
-{
-    AlteraIIC *pv = ALTERA_IIC(obj);
-
-    qdev_init_gpio_in(DEVICE(pv), irq_handler, 32);
-    sysbus_init_irq(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(obj), &pv->parent_irq);
-}
-
-static void altera_iic_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
-{
-    struct AlteraIIC *pv = ALTERA_IIC(dev);
-
-    pv->cpu = object_property_get_link(OBJECT(dev), "cpu", &error_abort);
-}
-
-static void altera_iic_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *data)
-{
-    DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(klass);
-
-    /* Reason: needs to be wired up, e.g. by nios2_10m50_ghrd_init() */
-    dc->user_creatable = false;
-    dc->realize = altera_iic_realize;
-}
-
-static TypeInfo altera_iic_info = {
-    .name          = TYPE_ALTERA_IIC,
-    .parent        = TYPE_SYS_BUS_DEVICE,
-    .instance_size = sizeof(AlteraIIC),
-    .instance_init = altera_iic_init,
-    .class_init    = altera_iic_class_init,
-};
-
-static void altera_iic_register(void)
-{
-    type_register_static(&altera_iic_info);
-}
-
-type_init(altera_iic_register)
diff --git a/hw/nios2/10m50_devboard.c b/hw/nios2/10m50_devboard.c
index 5c13b74306f..a14fc31e86b 100644
--- a/hw/nios2/10m50_devboard.c
+++ b/hw/nios2/10m50_devboard.c
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ static void nios2_10m50_ghrd_init(MachineState *machine)
     ram_addr_t tcm_size = 0x1000;    /* 1 kiB, but QEMU limit is 4 kiB */
     ram_addr_t ram_base = 0x08000000;
     ram_addr_t ram_size = 0x08000000;
-    qemu_irq *cpu_irq, irq[32];
+    qemu_irq irq[32];
     int i;
 
     /* Physical TCM (tb_ram_1k) with alias at 0xc0000000 */
@@ -75,17 +75,8 @@ static void nios2_10m50_ghrd_init(MachineState *machine)
 
     /* Create CPU -- FIXME */
     cpu = NIOS2_CPU(cpu_create(TYPE_NIOS2_CPU));
-
-    /* Register: CPU interrupt controller (PIC) */
-    cpu_irq = nios2_cpu_pic_init(cpu);
-
-    /* Register: Internal Interrupt Controller (IIC) */
-    dev = qdev_new("altera,iic");
-    object_property_add_const_link(OBJECT(dev), "cpu", OBJECT(cpu));
-    sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), &error_fatal);
-    sysbus_connect_irq(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), 0, cpu_irq[0]);
     for (i = 0; i < 32; i++) {
-        irq[i] = qdev_get_gpio_in(dev, i);
+        irq[i] = qdev_get_gpio_in_named(DEVICE(cpu), "IRQ", i);
     }
 
     /* Register: Altera 16550 UART */
diff --git a/hw/nios2/cpu_pic.c b/hw/nios2/cpu_pic.c
index 5ea7e52ab83..3fb621c5c85 100644
--- a/hw/nios2/cpu_pic.c
+++ b/hw/nios2/cpu_pic.c
@@ -26,32 +26,6 @@
 
 #include "boot.h"
 
-static void nios2_pic_cpu_handler(void *opaque, int irq, int level)
-{
-    Nios2CPU *cpu = opaque;
-    CPUNios2State *env = &cpu->env;
-    CPUState *cs = CPU(cpu);
-    int type = irq ? CPU_INTERRUPT_NMI : CPU_INTERRUPT_HARD;
-
-    if (type == CPU_INTERRUPT_HARD) {
-        env->irq_pending = level;
-
-        if (level && (env->regs[CR_STATUS] & CR_STATUS_PIE)) {
-            env->irq_pending = 0;
-            cpu_interrupt(cs, type);
-        } else if (!level) {
-            env->irq_pending = 0;
-            cpu_reset_interrupt(cs, type);
-        }
-    } else {
-        if (level) {
-            cpu_interrupt(cs, type);
-        } else {
-            cpu_reset_interrupt(cs, type);
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 void nios2_check_interrupts(CPUNios2State *env)
 {
     if (env->irq_pending &&
@@ -60,8 +34,3 @@ void nios2_check_interrupts(CPUNios2State *env)
         cpu_interrupt(env_cpu(env), CPU_INTERRUPT_HARD);
     }
 }
-
-qemu_irq *nios2_cpu_pic_init(Nios2CPU *cpu)
-{
-    return qemu_allocate_irqs(nios2_pic_cpu_handler, cpu, 2);
-}
diff --git a/target/nios2/cpu.c b/target/nios2/cpu.c
index 8f7011fcb92..52ebda89ca7 100644
--- a/target/nios2/cpu.c
+++ b/target/nios2/cpu.c
@@ -64,6 +64,27 @@ static void nios2_cpu_reset(DeviceState *dev)
 #endif
 }
 
+#ifndef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
+static void nios2_cpu_set_irq(void *opaque, int irq, int level)
+{
+    Nios2CPU *cpu = opaque;
+    CPUNios2State *env = &cpu->env;
+    CPUState *cs = CPU(cpu);
+
+    env->regs[CR_IPENDING] &= ~(1 << irq);
+    env->regs[CR_IPENDING] |= !!level << irq;
+
+    env->irq_pending = env->regs[CR_IPENDING] & env->regs[CR_IENABLE];
+
+    if (env->irq_pending && (env->regs[CR_STATUS] & CR_STATUS_PIE)) {
+        env->irq_pending = 0;
+        cpu_interrupt(cs, CPU_INTERRUPT_HARD);
+    } else if (!env->irq_pending) {
+        cpu_reset_interrupt(cs, CPU_INTERRUPT_HARD);
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
 static void nios2_cpu_initfn(Object *obj)
 {
     Nios2CPU *cpu = NIOS2_CPU(obj);
@@ -72,6 +93,15 @@ static void nios2_cpu_initfn(Object *obj)
 
 #if !defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
     mmu_init(&cpu->env);
+
+    /*
+     * These interrupt lines model the IIC (internal interrupt
+     * controller). QEMU does not currently support the EIC
+     * (external interrupt controller) -- if we did it would be
+     * a separate device in hw/intc with a custom interface to
+     * the CPU, and boards using it would not wire up these IRQ lines.
+     */
+    qdev_init_gpio_in_named(DEVICE(cpu), nios2_cpu_set_irq, "IRQ", 32);
 #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 68bc160f41b..1bf7d02330e 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -259,7 +259,6 @@ M: Marek Vasut <marex@denx.de>
 S: Maintained
 F: target/nios2/
 F: hw/nios2/
-F: hw/intc/nios2_iic.c
 F: disas/nios2.c
 F: default-configs/nios2-softmmu.mak
 
diff --git a/hw/intc/meson.build b/hw/intc/meson.build
index 3f82cc230ad..7c3e9daf586 100644
--- a/hw/intc/meson.build
+++ b/hw/intc/meson.build
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_IBEX', if_true: files('ibex_plic.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_IOAPIC', if_true: files('ioapic.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_LOONGSON_LIOINTC', if_true: files('loongson_liointc.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_MIPS_CPS', if_true: files('mips_gic.c'))
-specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_NIOS2', if_true: files('nios2_iic.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_OMAP', if_true: files('omap_intc.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_OMPIC', if_true: files('ompic.c'))
 specific_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_OPENPIC_KVM', if_true: files('openpic_kvm.c'))
