diff --git a/hw/arm/virt-acpi-build.c b/hw/arm/virt-acpi-build.c
index 73aca9eac5..d0a8a0ff1e 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt-acpi-build.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt-acpi-build.c
@@ -614,6 +614,9 @@ build_madt(GArray *table_data, BIOSLinker *linker, VirtMachineState *vms)
         if (arm_feature(&armcpu->env, ARM_FEATURE_PMU)) {
             gicc->performance_interrupt = cpu_to_le32(PPI(VIRTUAL_PMU_IRQ));
         }
+        if (vms->virt && vms->gic_version == 3) {
+            gicc->vgic_interrupt = cpu_to_le32(PPI(ARCH_GICV3_MAINT_IRQ));
+        }
     }
 
     if (vms->gic_version == 3) {
diff --git a/hw/arm/virt.c b/hw/arm/virt.c
index 769afa0600..6c9e8985bf 100644
--- a/hw/arm/virt.c
+++ b/hw/arm/virt.c
@@ -443,6 +443,11 @@ static void fdt_add_gic_node(VirtMachineState *vms)
                                      2, vms->memmap[VIRT_GIC_DIST].size,
                                      2, vms->memmap[VIRT_GIC_REDIST].base,
                                      2, vms->memmap[VIRT_GIC_REDIST].size);
+        if (vms->virt) {
+            qemu_fdt_setprop_cells(vms->fdt, "/intc", "interrupts",
+                                   GIC_FDT_IRQ_TYPE_PPI, ARCH_GICV3_MAINT_IRQ,
+                                   GIC_FDT_IRQ_FLAGS_LEVEL_HI);
+        }
     } else {
         /* 'cortex-a15-gic' means 'GIC v2' */
         qemu_fdt_setprop_string(vms->fdt, "/intc", "compatible",
@@ -1239,10 +1244,15 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
      * so it doesn't get in the way. Instead of starting secondary
      * CPUs in PSCI powerdown state we will start them all running and
      * let the boot ROM sort them out.
-     * The usual case is that we do use QEMU's PSCI implementation.
+     * The usual case is that we do use QEMU's PSCI implementation;
+     * if the guest has EL2 then we will use SMC as the conduit,
+     * and otherwise we will use HVC (for backwards compatibility and
+     * because if we're using KVM then we must use HVC).
      */
     if (vms->secure && firmware_loaded) {
         vms->psci_conduit = QEMU_PSCI_CONDUIT_DISABLED;
+    } else if (vms->virt) {
+        vms->psci_conduit = QEMU_PSCI_CONDUIT_SMC;
     } else {
         vms->psci_conduit = QEMU_PSCI_CONDUIT_HVC;
     }
@@ -1272,6 +1282,12 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
         exit(1);
     }
 
+    if (vms->virt && kvm_enabled()) {
+        error_report("mach-virt: KVM does not support providing "
+                     "Virtualization extensions to the guest CPU");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     if (vms->secure) {
         if (kvm_enabled()) {
             error_report("mach-virt: KVM does not support Security extensions");
@@ -1328,7 +1344,7 @@ static void machvirt_init(MachineState *machine)
             object_property_set_bool(cpuobj, false, "has_el3", NULL);
         }
 
-        if (object_property_find(cpuobj, "has_el2", NULL)) {
+        if (!vms->virt && object_property_find(cpuobj, "has_el2", NULL)) {
             object_property_set_bool(cpuobj, false, "has_el2", NULL);
         }
 
@@ -1434,6 +1450,20 @@ static void virt_set_secure(Object *obj, bool value, Error **errp)
     vms->secure = value;
 }
 
+static bool virt_get_virt(Object *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    return vms->virt;
+}
+
+static void virt_set_virt(Object *obj, bool value, Error **errp)
+{
+    VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
+
+    vms->virt = value;
+}
+
 static bool virt_get_highmem(Object *obj, Error **errp)
 {
     VirtMachineState *vms = VIRT_MACHINE(obj);
@@ -1521,6 +1551,16 @@ static void virt_2_9_instance_init(Object *obj)
                                     "Security Extensions (TrustZone)",
                                     NULL);
 
+    /* EL2 is also disabled by default, for similar reasons */
+    vms->virt = false;
+    object_property_add_bool(obj, "virtualization", virt_get_virt,
+                             virt_set_virt, NULL);
+    object_property_set_description(obj, "virtualization",
+                                    "Set on/off to enable/disable emulating a "
+                                    "guest CPU which implements the ARM "
+                                    "Virtualization Extensions",
+                                    NULL);
+
     /* High memory is enabled by default */
     vms->highmem = true;
     object_property_add_bool(obj, "highmem", virt_get_highmem,
diff --git a/include/hw/arm/virt.h b/include/hw/arm/virt.h
index 53507e63d0..58ce74e0e5 100644
--- a/include/hw/arm/virt.h
+++ b/include/hw/arm/virt.h
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ typedef struct {
     FWCfgState *fw_cfg;
     bool secure;
     bool highmem;
+    bool virt;
     int32_t gic_version;
     struct arm_boot_info bootinfo;
     const MemMapEntry *memmap;