diff --git a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
index 9b5bcb5634..1cba9fc302 100644
--- a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
+++ b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
@@ -593,7 +593,6 @@ static void sbsa_ref_init(MachineState *machine)
     MachineClass *mc = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(machine);
     MemoryRegion *sysmem = get_system_memory();
     MemoryRegion *secure_sysmem = g_new(MemoryRegion, 1);
-    MemoryRegion *ram = g_new(MemoryRegion, 1);
     bool firmware_loaded;
     const CPUArchIdList *possible_cpus;
     int n, sbsa_max_cpus;
@@ -685,9 +684,8 @@ static void sbsa_ref_init(MachineState *machine)
         object_unref(cpuobj);
     }
 
-    memory_region_allocate_system_memory(ram, NULL, "sbsa-ref.ram",
-                                         machine->ram_size);
-    memory_region_add_subregion(sysmem, sbsa_ref_memmap[SBSA_MEM].base, ram);
+    memory_region_add_subregion(sysmem, sbsa_ref_memmap[SBSA_MEM].base,
+                                machine->ram);
 
     create_fdt(sms);
 
@@ -785,6 +783,7 @@ static void sbsa_ref_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     mc->block_default_type = IF_IDE;
     mc->no_cdrom = 1;
     mc->default_ram_size = 1 * GiB;
+    mc->default_ram_id = "sbsa-ref.ram";
     mc->default_cpus = 4;
     mc->possible_cpu_arch_ids = sbsa_ref_possible_cpu_arch_ids;
     mc->cpu_index_to_instance_props = sbsa_ref_cpu_index_to_props;