diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index 7170aaacd5..4160d49688 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -1459,7 +1459,7 @@ static void create_platform_bus(VirtMachineState *vms)
     MemoryRegion *sysmem = get_system_memory();
 
     dev = qdev_new(TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE);
-    dev->id = TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE;
+    dev->id = g_strdup(TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE);
     qdev_prop_set_uint32(dev, "num_irqs", PLATFORM_BUS_NUM_IRQS);
     qdev_prop_set_uint32(dev, "mmio_size", vms->memmap[VIRT_PLATFORM_BUS].size);
     sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), &error_fatal);
diff --git a/hw/core/qdev.c b/hw/core/qdev.c
index cefc5eaa0a..d918b50a1d 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev.c
@@ -956,6 +956,7 @@ static void device_finalize(Object *obj)
     }
 
     qemu_opts_del(dev->opts);
+    g_free(dev->id);
 }
 
 static void device_class_base_init(ObjectClass *class, void *data)
diff --git a/hw/pci-bridge/pci_expander_bridge.c b/hw/pci-bridge/pci_expander_bridge.c
index 7112dc3062..10e6e7c2ab 100644
--- a/hw/pci-bridge/pci_expander_bridge.c
+++ b/hw/pci-bridge/pci_expander_bridge.c
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ static void pxb_dev_realize_common(PCIDevice *dev, bool pcie, Error **errp)
     } else {
         bus = pci_root_bus_new(ds, "pxb-internal", NULL, NULL, 0, TYPE_PXB_BUS);
         bds = qdev_new("pci-bridge");
-        bds->id = dev_name;
+        bds->id = g_strdup(dev_name);
         qdev_prop_set_uint8(bds, PCI_BRIDGE_DEV_PROP_CHASSIS_NR, pxb->bus_nr);
         qdev_prop_set_bit(bds, PCI_BRIDGE_DEV_PROP_SHPC, false);
     }
diff --git a/hw/ppc/e500.c b/hw/ppc/e500.c
index 95451414dd..960e7efcd3 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/e500.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/e500.c
@@ -1006,7 +1006,7 @@ void ppce500_init(MachineState *machine)
     /* Platform Bus Device */
     if (pmc->has_platform_bus) {
         dev = qdev_new(TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE);
-        dev->id = TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE;
+        dev->id = g_strdup(TYPE_PLATFORM_BUS_DEVICE);
         qdev_prop_set_uint32(dev, "num_irqs", pmc->platform_bus_num_irqs);
         qdev_prop_set_uint32(dev, "mmio_size", pmc->platform_bus_size);
         sysbus_realize_and_unref(SYS_BUS_DEVICE(dev), &error_fatal);
diff --git a/include/hw/qdev-core.h b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
index 4ff19c714b..5a073fc368 100644
--- a/include/hw/qdev-core.h
+++ b/include/hw/qdev-core.h
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ struct DeviceState {
     Object parent_obj;
     /*< public >*/
 
-    const char *id;
+    char *id;
     char *canonical_path;
     bool realized;
     bool pending_deleted_event;
diff --git a/include/monitor/qdev.h b/include/monitor/qdev.h
index eaa947d73a..389287eb44 100644
--- a/include/monitor/qdev.h
+++ b/include/monitor/qdev.h
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ void qmp_device_add(QDict *qdict, QObject **ret_data, Error **errp);
 
 int qdev_device_help(QemuOpts *opts);
 DeviceState *qdev_device_add(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp);
-void qdev_set_id(DeviceState *dev, const char *id);
+void qdev_set_id(DeviceState *dev, char *id);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c b/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
index 672f87ed4f..b7c2d69207 100644
--- a/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
+++ b/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
@@ -592,7 +592,8 @@ static BusState *qbus_find(const char *path, Error **errp)
     return bus;
 }
 
-void qdev_set_id(DeviceState *dev, const char *id)
+/* Takes ownership of @id, will be freed when deleting the device */
+void qdev_set_id(DeviceState *dev, char *id)
 {
     if (id) {
         dev->id = id;
@@ -690,7 +691,7 @@ DeviceState *qdev_device_add(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
         }
     }
 
-    qdev_set_id(dev, qemu_opts_id(opts));
+    qdev_set_id(dev, g_strdup(qemu_opts_id(opts)));
 
     /* set properties */
     if (qemu_opt_foreach(opts, set_property, dev, errp)) {