diff --git a/hw/ppc/ppc.c b/hw/ppc/ppc.c
index e4252528a69d7a8eee57070bbd650be9a8812175..89458690097fa573506f282a5ef8136179c2186b 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/ppc.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/ppc.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "hw/timer/m48t59.h"
 #include "qemu/log.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "hw/loader.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
 #include "kvm_ppc.h"
@@ -1350,3 +1351,28 @@ PowerPCCPU *ppc_get_vcpu_by_dt_id(int cpu_dt_id)
 
     return NULL;
 }
+
+void ppc_cpu_parse_features(const char *cpu_model)
+{
+    CPUClass *cc;
+    ObjectClass *oc;
+    const char *typename;
+    gchar **model_pieces;
+
+    model_pieces = g_strsplit(cpu_model, ",", 2);
+    if (!model_pieces[0]) {
+        error_report("Invalid/empty CPU model name");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    oc = cpu_class_by_name(TYPE_POWERPC_CPU, model_pieces[0]);
+    if (oc == NULL) {
+        error_report("Unable to find CPU definition: %s", model_pieces[0]);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    typename = object_class_get_name(oc);
+    cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
+    cc->parse_features(typename, model_pieces[1], &error_fatal);
+    g_strfreev(model_pieces);
+}
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index 0787c664865a5ff608f3e4ef2388dad0a7dc9afc..30d6800ab37c4835aaf83e6ae5c263a16238e749 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -1812,6 +1812,8 @@ static void ppc_spapr_init(MachineState *machine)
         machine->cpu_model = kvm_enabled() ? "host" : "POWER7";
     }
 
+    ppc_cpu_parse_features(machine->cpu_model);
+
     if (mc->query_hotpluggable_cpus) {
         char *type = spapr_get_cpu_core_type(machine->cpu_model);
 
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/ppc.h b/include/hw/ppc/ppc.h
index 520c72a08d1138eab51897aa6da4c6e6ed7b9597..00c1fb1e720a10c521cbbc5146b9532eb44af159 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/ppc.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/ppc.h
@@ -106,4 +106,5 @@ enum {
 /* ppc_booke.c */
 void ppc_booke_timers_init(PowerPCCPU *cpu, uint32_t freq, uint32_t flags);
 
+void ppc_cpu_parse_features(const char *cpu_model);
 #endif