diff --git a/hw/arm/bcm2836.c b/hw/arm/bcm2836.c
index 1d1908654b..07d2705f96 100644
--- a/hw/arm/bcm2836.c
+++ b/hw/arm/bcm2836.c
@@ -23,6 +23,19 @@
 /* "QA7" (Pi2) interrupt controller and mailboxes etc. */
 #define BCM2836_CONTROL_BASE    0x40000000
 
+struct BCM283XInfo {
+    const char *name;
+};
+
+static const BCM283XInfo bcm283x_socs[] = {
+    {
+        .name = TYPE_BCM2836,
+    },
+    {
+        .name = TYPE_BCM2837,
+    },
+};
+
 static void bcm2836_init(Object *obj)
 {
     BCM283XState *s = BCM283X(obj);
@@ -156,25 +169,39 @@ static Property bcm2836_props[] = {
     DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST()
 };
 
-static void bcm2836_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
+static void bcm283x_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     DeviceClass *dc = DEVICE_CLASS(oc);
+    BCM283XClass *bc = BCM283X_CLASS(oc);
 
-    dc->props = bcm2836_props;
+    bc->info = data;
     dc->realize = bcm2836_realize;
+    dc->props = bcm2836_props;
 }
 
-static const TypeInfo bcm2836_type_info = {
+static const TypeInfo bcm283x_type_info = {
     .name = TYPE_BCM283X,
     .parent = TYPE_DEVICE,
     .instance_size = sizeof(BCM283XState),
     .instance_init = bcm2836_init,
-    .class_init = bcm2836_class_init,
+    .class_size = sizeof(BCM283XClass),
+    .abstract = true,
 };
 
 static void bcm2836_register_types(void)
 {
-    type_register_static(&bcm2836_type_info);
+    int i;
+
+    type_register_static(&bcm283x_type_info);
+    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(bcm283x_socs); i++) {
+        TypeInfo ti = {
+            .name = bcm283x_socs[i].name,
+            .parent = TYPE_BCM283X,
+            .class_init = bcm283x_class_init,
+            .class_data = (void *) &bcm283x_socs[i],
+        };
+        type_register(&ti);
+    }
 }
 
 type_init(bcm2836_register_types)
diff --git a/hw/arm/raspi.c b/hw/arm/raspi.c
index 58c6e80a17..f588720138 100644
--- a/hw/arm/raspi.c
+++ b/hw/arm/raspi.c
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ static void raspi_init(MachineState *machine, int version)
     BusState *bus;
     DeviceState *carddev;
 
-    object_initialize(&s->soc, sizeof(s->soc), TYPE_BCM283X);
+    object_initialize(&s->soc, sizeof(s->soc),
+                      version == 3 ? TYPE_BCM2837 : TYPE_BCM2836);
     object_property_add_child(OBJECT(machine), "soc", OBJECT(&s->soc),
                               &error_abort);
 
diff --git a/include/hw/arm/bcm2836.h b/include/hw/arm/bcm2836.h
index 9a10a76631..93248399ba 100644
--- a/include/hw/arm/bcm2836.h
+++ b/include/hw/arm/bcm2836.h
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@
 
 #define BCM283X_NCPUS 4
 
+/* These type names are for specific SoCs; other than instantiating
+ * them, code using these devices should always handle them via the
+ * BCM283x base class, so they have no BCM2836(obj) etc macros.
+ */
+#define TYPE_BCM2836 "bcm2836"
+#define TYPE_BCM2837 "bcm2837"
+
 typedef struct BCM283XState {
     /*< private >*/
     DeviceState parent_obj;
@@ -33,4 +40,16 @@ typedef struct BCM283XState {
     BCM2835PeripheralState peripherals;
 } BCM283XState;
 
+typedef struct BCM283XInfo BCM283XInfo;
+
+typedef struct BCM283XClass {
+    DeviceClass parent_class;
+    const BCM283XInfo *info;
+} BCM283XClass;
+
+#define BCM283X_CLASS(klass) \
+    OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(BCM283XClass, (klass), TYPE_BCM283X)
+#define BCM283X_GET_CLASS(obj) \
+    OBJECT_GET_CLASS(BCM283XClass, (obj), TYPE_BCM283X)
+
 #endif /* BCM2836_H */