diff --git a/event-loop-base.c b/event-loop-base.c
index a924c73a7c..e7f99a6ec8 100644
--- a/event-loop-base.c
+++ b/event-loop-base.c
@@ -73,10 +73,23 @@ static void event_loop_base_complete(UserCreatable *uc, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
+static bool event_loop_base_can_be_deleted(UserCreatable *uc)
+{
+    EventLoopBaseClass *bc = EVENT_LOOP_BASE_GET_CLASS(uc);
+    EventLoopBase *backend = EVENT_LOOP_BASE(uc);
+
+    if (bc->can_be_deleted) {
+        return bc->can_be_deleted(backend);
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 static void event_loop_base_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *class_data)
 {
     UserCreatableClass *ucc = USER_CREATABLE_CLASS(klass);
     ucc->complete = event_loop_base_complete;
+    ucc->can_be_deleted = event_loop_base_can_be_deleted;
 
     object_class_property_add(klass, "aio-max-batch", "int",
                               event_loop_base_get_param,
diff --git a/include/qemu/main-loop.h b/include/qemu/main-loop.h
index d3750c8e76..20c9387654 100644
--- a/include/qemu/main-loop.h
+++ b/include/qemu/main-loop.h
@@ -26,9 +26,19 @@
 #define QEMU_MAIN_LOOP_H
 
 #include "block/aio.h"
+#include "qom/object.h"
+#include "sysemu/event-loop-base.h"
 
 #define SIG_IPI SIGUSR1
 
+#define TYPE_MAIN_LOOP  "main-loop"
+OBJECT_DECLARE_TYPE(MainLoop, MainLoopClass, MAIN_LOOP)
+
+struct MainLoop {
+    EventLoopBase parent_obj;
+};
+typedef struct MainLoop MainLoop;
+
 /**
  * qemu_init_main_loop: Set up the process so that it can run the main loop.
  *
diff --git a/include/sysemu/event-loop-base.h b/include/sysemu/event-loop-base.h
index 8e77d8b69f..fced4c9fea 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/event-loop-base.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/event-loop-base.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ struct EventLoopBaseClass {
 
     void (*init)(EventLoopBase *base, Error **errp);
     void (*update_params)(EventLoopBase *base, Error **errp);
+    bool (*can_be_deleted)(EventLoopBase *base);
 };
 
 struct EventLoopBase {
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 0a14e88ffc..b3472ae62a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2823,7 +2823,8 @@ libqemuutil = static_library('qemuutil',
                              sources: util_ss.sources() + stub_ss.sources() + genh,
                              dependencies: [util_ss.dependencies(), libm, threads, glib, socket, malloc, pixman])
 qemuutil = declare_dependency(link_with: libqemuutil,
-                              sources: genh + version_res)
+                              sources: genh + version_res,
+                              dependencies: [event_loop_base])
 
 if have_system or have_user
   decodetree = generator(find_program('scripts/decodetree.py'),
diff --git a/qapi/qom.json b/qapi/qom.json
index a2439533c5..51f3acaad8 100644
--- a/qapi/qom.json
+++ b/qapi/qom.json
@@ -540,6 +540,16 @@
             '*poll-grow': 'int',
             '*poll-shrink': 'int' } }
 
+##
+# @MainLoopProperties:
+#
+# Properties for the main-loop object.
+#
+##
+{ 'struct': 'MainLoopProperties',
+  'base': 'EventLoopBaseProperties',
+  'data': {} }
+
 ##
 # @MemoryBackendProperties:
 #
@@ -830,6 +840,7 @@
     { 'name': 'input-linux',
       'if': 'CONFIG_LINUX' },
     'iothread',
+    'main-loop',
     { 'name': 'memory-backend-epc',
       'if': 'CONFIG_LINUX' },
     'memory-backend-file',
@@ -895,6 +906,7 @@
       'input-linux':                { 'type': 'InputLinuxProperties',
                                       'if': 'CONFIG_LINUX' },
       'iothread':                   'IothreadProperties',
+      'main-loop':                  'MainLoopProperties',
       'memory-backend-epc':         { 'type': 'MemoryBackendEpcProperties',
                                       'if': 'CONFIG_LINUX' },
       'memory-backend-file':        'MemoryBackendFileProperties',
diff --git a/util/main-loop.c b/util/main-loop.c
index b7b0ce4ca0..5b13f456fa 100644
--- a/util/main-loop.c
+++ b/util/main-loop.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
 #include "qemu/compiler.h"
+#include "qom/object.h"
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
 #include <sys/wait.h>
@@ -184,6 +185,61 @@ int qemu_init_main_loop(Error **errp)
     return 0;
 }
 
+static void main_loop_update_params(EventLoopBase *base, Error **errp)
+{
+    if (!qemu_aio_context) {
+        error_setg(errp, "qemu aio context not ready");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    aio_context_set_aio_params(qemu_aio_context, base->aio_max_batch, errp);
+}
+
+MainLoop *mloop;
+
+static void main_loop_init(EventLoopBase *base, Error **errp)
+{
+    MainLoop *m = MAIN_LOOP(base);
+
+    if (mloop) {
+        error_setg(errp, "only one main-loop instance allowed");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    main_loop_update_params(base, errp);
+
+    mloop = m;
+    return;
+}
+
+static bool main_loop_can_be_deleted(EventLoopBase *base)
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
+static void main_loop_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *class_data)
+{
+    EventLoopBaseClass *bc = EVENT_LOOP_BASE_CLASS(oc);
+
+    bc->init = main_loop_init;
+    bc->update_params = main_loop_update_params;
+    bc->can_be_deleted = main_loop_can_be_deleted;
+}
+
+static const TypeInfo main_loop_info = {
+    .name = TYPE_MAIN_LOOP,
+    .parent = TYPE_EVENT_LOOP_BASE,
+    .class_init = main_loop_class_init,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(MainLoop),
+};
+
+static void main_loop_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&main_loop_info);
+}
+
+type_init(main_loop_register_types)
+
 static int max_priority;
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
