diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index aab99f75c9..94694d6530 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 #include "hw/platform-bus.h"
 #include "hw/arm/fdt.h"
 #include "hw/intc/arm_gic_common.h"
+#include "kvm_arm.h"
 
 /* Number of external interrupt lines to configure the GIC with */
 #define NUM_IRQS 256
@@ -366,12 +367,10 @@ static void create_gic(VirtBoardInfo *vbi, qemu_irq *pic)
     /* We create a standalone GIC v2 */
     DeviceState *gicdev;
     SysBusDevice *gicbusdev;
-    const char *gictype = "arm_gic";
+    const char *gictype;
     int i;
 
-    if (kvm_irqchip_in_kernel()) {
-        gictype = "kvm-arm-gic";
-    }
+    gictype = gic_class_name();
 
     gicdev = qdev_create(NULL, gictype);
     qdev_prop_set_uint32(gicdev, "revision", 2);
diff --git a/hw/cpu/a15mpcore.c b/hw/cpu/a15mpcore.c
index acc419e11a..e31a1f9faa 100644
--- a/hw/cpu/a15mpcore.c
+++ b/hw/cpu/a15mpcore.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 #include "hw/cpu/a15mpcore.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
+#include "kvm_arm.h"
 
 static void a15mp_priv_set_irq(void *opaque, int irq, int level)
 {
@@ -33,16 +34,11 @@ static void a15mp_priv_initfn(Object *obj)
     SysBusDevice *sbd = SYS_BUS_DEVICE(obj);
     A15MPPrivState *s = A15MPCORE_PRIV(obj);
     DeviceState *gicdev;
-    const char *gictype = "arm_gic";
-
-    if (kvm_irqchip_in_kernel()) {
-        gictype = "kvm-arm-gic";
-    }
 
     memory_region_init(&s->container, obj, "a15mp-priv-container", 0x8000);
     sysbus_init_mmio(sbd, &s->container);
 
-    object_initialize(&s->gic, sizeof(s->gic), gictype);
+    object_initialize(&s->gic, sizeof(s->gic), gic_class_name());
     gicdev = DEVICE(&s->gic);
     qdev_set_parent_bus(gicdev, sysbus_get_default());
     qdev_prop_set_uint32(gicdev, "revision", 2);
diff --git a/target-arm/kvm_arm.h b/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
index 7912d7433d..b3e0ab7e7c 100644
--- a/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
+++ b/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
@@ -191,4 +191,9 @@ int kvm_arm_sync_mpstate_to_qemu(ARMCPU *cpu);
 
 #endif
 
+static inline const char *gic_class_name(void)
+{
+    return kvm_irqchip_in_kernel() ? "kvm-arm-gic" : "arm_gic";
+}
+
 #endif