diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index cda4b83586..2c07245047 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -1207,16 +1207,23 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
     /* We can probe only here because during property set
      * KVM is not available yet
      */
-    if (!vms->gic_version) {
+    if (vms->gic_version <= 0) {
+        /* "host" or "max" */
         if (!kvm_enabled()) {
-            error_report("gic-version=host requires KVM");
-            exit(1);
-        }
-
-        vms->gic_version = kvm_arm_vgic_probe();
-        if (!vms->gic_version) {
-            error_report("Unable to determine GIC version supported by host");
-            exit(1);
+            if (vms->gic_version == 0) {
+                error_report("gic-version=host requires KVM");
+                exit(1);
+            } else {
+                /* "max": currently means 3 for TCG */
+                vms->gic_version = 3;
+            }
+        } else {
+            vms->gic_version = kvm_arm_vgic_probe();
+            if (!vms->gic_version) {
+                error_report(
+                    "Unable to determine GIC version supported by host");
+                exit(1);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -1480,9 +1487,11 @@ static void virt_set_gic_version(Object *obj, const char *value, Error **errp)
         vms->gic_version = 2;
     } else if (!strcmp(value, "host")) {
         vms->gic_version = 0; /* Will probe later */
+    } else if (!strcmp(value, "max")) {
+        vms->gic_version = -1; /* Will probe later */
     } else {
         error_setg(errp, "Invalid gic-version value");
-        error_append_hint(errp, "Valid values are 3, 2, host.\n");
+        error_append_hint(errp, "Valid values are 3, 2, host, max.\n");
     }
 }