diff --git a/target/arm/cpu.c b/target/arm/cpu.c
index 98e2c68bc4ace2b207876d653b9e046ec6817fe1..f5cb30af6c1a08041efa091150bd5ea7f48a7ed9 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu.c
+++ b/target/arm/cpu.c
@@ -597,6 +597,11 @@ static void arm_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         } else {
             set_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_V6);
         }
+
+        /* Always define VBAR for V7 CPUs even if it doesn't exist in
+         * non-EL3 configs. This is needed by some legacy boards.
+         */
+        set_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_VBAR);
     }
     if (arm_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_V6K)) {
         set_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_V6);
@@ -721,6 +726,10 @@ static void arm_cpu_realizefn(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         }
     }
 
+    if (arm_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_EL3)) {
+        set_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_VBAR);
+    }
+
     register_cp_regs_for_features(cpu);
     arm_cpu_register_gdb_regs_for_features(cpu);
 
diff --git a/target/arm/cpu.h b/target/arm/cpu.h
index ca5c849ed65e2d509290a2f1d0d3d3343b952b21..ab119e62ab0f963bcb1dd73d9e9ca3dac23fc4c6 100644
--- a/target/arm/cpu.h
+++ b/target/arm/cpu.h
@@ -1125,6 +1125,7 @@ enum arm_features {
     ARM_FEATURE_V8_PMULL, /* implements PMULL part of v8 Crypto Extensions */
     ARM_FEATURE_THUMB_DSP, /* DSP insns supported in the Thumb encodings */
     ARM_FEATURE_PMU, /* has PMU support */
+    ARM_FEATURE_VBAR, /* has cp15 VBAR */
 };
 
 static inline int arm_feature(CPUARMState *env, int feature)
diff --git a/target/arm/helper.c b/target/arm/helper.c
index b5b65caadf8afe1cda8d58a5065167380081549f..8dcabbf57654601c5370a4e30994886953eb8eb0 100644
--- a/target/arm/helper.c
+++ b/target/arm/helper.c
@@ -1252,12 +1252,6 @@ static const ARMCPRegInfo v7_cp_reginfo[] = {
       .access = PL1_RW, .accessfn = access_tpm, .type = ARM_CP_ALIAS,
       .fieldoffset = offsetof(CPUARMState, cp15.c9_pminten),
       .writefn = pmintenclr_write },
-    { .name = "VBAR", .state = ARM_CP_STATE_BOTH,
-      .opc0 = 3, .crn = 12, .crm = 0, .opc1 = 0, .opc2 = 0,
-      .access = PL1_RW, .writefn = vbar_write,
-      .bank_fieldoffsets = { offsetof(CPUARMState, cp15.vbar_s),
-                             offsetof(CPUARMState, cp15.vbar_ns) },
-      .resetvalue = 0 },
     { .name = "CCSIDR", .state = ARM_CP_STATE_BOTH,
       .opc0 = 3, .crn = 0, .crm = 0, .opc1 = 1, .opc2 = 0,
       .access = PL1_R, .readfn = ccsidr_read, .type = ARM_CP_NO_RAW },
@@ -5094,6 +5088,19 @@ void register_cp_regs_for_features(ARMCPU *cpu)
         }
     }
 
+    if (arm_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_VBAR)) {
+        ARMCPRegInfo vbar_cp_reginfo[] = {
+            { .name = "VBAR", .state = ARM_CP_STATE_BOTH,
+              .opc0 = 3, .crn = 12, .crm = 0, .opc1 = 0, .opc2 = 0,
+              .access = PL1_RW, .writefn = vbar_write,
+              .bank_fieldoffsets = { offsetof(CPUARMState, cp15.vbar_s),
+                                     offsetof(CPUARMState, cp15.vbar_ns) },
+              .resetvalue = 0 },
+            REGINFO_SENTINEL
+        };
+        define_arm_cp_regs(cpu, vbar_cp_reginfo);
+    }
+
     /* Generic registers whose values depend on the implementation */
     {
         ARMCPRegInfo sctlr = {