diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index a386605b6a349153494045d494be8d67a9d65de7..702b7b5dbd4817e06928a8c631956a1d6cbd1090 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -3415,6 +3415,17 @@
             'cpuid-register': 'X86CPURegister32',
             'features': 'int' } }
 
+##
+# @DummyForceArrays
+#
+# Not used by QMP; hack to let us use X86CPUFeatureWordInfoList internally
+#
+# Since 2.5
+##
+{ 'struct': 'DummyForceArrays',
+  'data': { 'unused': ['X86CPUFeatureWordInfo'] } }
+
+
 ##
 # @RxState:
 #
diff --git a/scripts/qapi.py b/scripts/qapi.py
index d7cf0f37147459fc35bed562f6f094c0f4ea90a3..9e017050c04e565689c3398bb6328c1ced1a3f6e 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi.py
@@ -1143,7 +1143,12 @@ class QAPISchema(object):
     def _def_builtin_type(self, name, json_type, c_type, c_null):
         self._def_entity(QAPISchemaBuiltinType(name, json_type,
                                                c_type, c_null))
-        self._make_array_type(name)     # TODO really needed?
+        # TODO As long as we have QAPI_TYPES_BUILTIN to share multiple
+        # qapi-types.h from a single .c, all arrays of builtins must be
+        # declared in the first file whether or not they are used.  Nicer
+        # would be to use lazy instantiation, while figuring out how to
+        # avoid compilation issues with multiple qapi-types.h.
+        self._make_array_type(name)
 
     def _def_predefineds(self):
         for t in [('str',    'string',  'char' + pointer_suffix, 'NULL'),
@@ -1192,7 +1197,6 @@ class QAPISchema(object):
         data = expr['data']
         prefix = expr.get('prefix')
         self._def_entity(QAPISchemaEnumType(name, info, data, prefix))
-        self._make_array_type(name)     # TODO really needed?
 
     def _make_member(self, name, typ):
         optional = False
@@ -1215,7 +1219,6 @@ class QAPISchema(object):
         self._def_entity(QAPISchemaObjectType(name, info, base,
                                               self._make_members(data),
                                               None))
-        self._make_array_type(name)     # TODO really needed?
 
     def _make_variant(self, case, typ):
         return QAPISchemaObjectTypeVariant(case, typ)
@@ -1251,7 +1254,6 @@ class QAPISchema(object):
                                  QAPISchemaObjectTypeVariants(tag_name,
                                                               tag_enum,
                                                               variants)))
-        self._make_array_type(name)     # TODO really needed?
 
     def _def_alternate_type(self, expr, info):
         name = expr['alternate']
@@ -1264,7 +1266,6 @@ class QAPISchema(object):
                                     QAPISchemaObjectTypeVariants(None,
                                                                  tag_enum,
                                                                  variants)))
-        self._make_array_type(name)     # TODO really needed?
 
     def _def_command(self, expr, info):
         name = expr['command']
diff --git a/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.json b/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.json
index b48c6bd740c5cd17e2b203172c1d56f387ad7707..4e2d7c20630f6a76f3568672ecbab25a1d9b7c2d 100644
--- a/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.json
+++ b/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.json
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@
   'data': { 'string0': 'str',
             'dict1': 'UserDefTwoDict' } }
 
+# dummy struct to force generation of array types not otherwise mentioned
+{ 'struct': 'ForceArrays',
+  'data': { 'unused1':['UserDefOne'], 'unused2':['UserDefTwo'] } }
+
 # for testing unions
 # Among other things, test that a name collision between branches does
 # not cause any problems (since only one branch can be in use at a time),
diff --git a/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.out b/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.out
index 93f62503e7e2b56c9fe18f93f89807fe51f485bf..a6c80e04d7a6a4121536585d39ae2ef18b7cf00b 100644
--- a/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.out
+++ b/tests/qapi-schema/qapi-schema-test.out
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ object EventStructOne
     member struct1: UserDefOne optional=False
     member string: str optional=False
     member enum2: EnumOne optional=True
+object ForceArrays
+    member unused1: UserDefOneList optional=False
+    member unused2: UserDefTwoList optional=False
 enum MyEnum []
 object NestedEnumsOne
     member enum1: EnumOne optional=False