diff --git a/target-arm/cpu-qom.h b/target-arm/cpu-qom.h
index edc7f26..2bd7df8 100644
--- a/target-arm/cpu-qom.h
+++ b/target-arm/cpu-qom.h
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ typedef struct ARMCPU {
      */
     uint32_t kvm_target;
 
+    /* KVM init features for this CPU */
+    uint32_t kvm_init_features[7];
+
     /* The instance init functions for implementation-specific subclasses
      * set these fields to specify the implementation-dependent values of
      * various constant registers and reset values of non-constant
diff --git a/target-arm/kvm.c b/target-arm/kvm.c
index 39202d7..319784d 100644
--- a/target-arm/kvm.c
+++ b/target-arm/kvm.c
@@ -27,6 +27,17 @@ const KVMCapabilityInfo kvm_arch_required_capabilities[] = {
     KVM_CAP_LAST_INFO
 };
 
+int kvm_arm_vcpu_init(CPUState *cs)
+{
+    ARMCPU *cpu = ARM_CPU(cs);
+    struct kvm_vcpu_init init;
+
+    init.target = cpu->kvm_target;
+    memcpy(init.features, cpu->kvm_init_features, sizeof(init.features));
+
+    return kvm_vcpu_ioctl(cs, KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT, &init);
+}
+
 bool kvm_arm_create_scratch_host_vcpu(const uint32_t *cpus_to_try,
                                       int *fdarray,
                                       struct kvm_vcpu_init *init)
diff --git a/target-arm/kvm32.c b/target-arm/kvm32.c
index b79750c..b142e90 100644
--- a/target-arm/kvm32.c
+++ b/target-arm/kvm32.c
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ static int compare_u64(const void *a, const void *b)
 
 int kvm_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cs)
 {
-    struct kvm_vcpu_init init;
     int i, ret, arraylen;
     uint64_t v;
     struct kvm_one_reg r;
@@ -179,15 +178,18 @@ int kvm_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cs)
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
-    init.target = cpu->kvm_target;
-    memset(init.features, 0, sizeof(init.features));
+    /* Determine init features for this CPU */
+    memset(cpu->kvm_init_features, 0, sizeof(cpu->kvm_init_features));
     if (cpu->start_powered_off) {
-        init.features[0] = 1 << KVM_ARM_VCPU_POWER_OFF;
+        cpu->kvm_init_features[0] |= 1 << KVM_ARM_VCPU_POWER_OFF;
     }
-    ret = kvm_vcpu_ioctl(cs, KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT, &init);
+
+    /* Do KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT ioctl */
+    ret = kvm_arm_vcpu_init(cs);
     if (ret) {
         return ret;
     }
+
     /* Query the kernel to make sure it supports 32 VFP
      * registers: QEMU's "cortex-a15" CPU is always a
      * VFP-D32 core. The simplest way to do this is just
diff --git a/target-arm/kvm64.c b/target-arm/kvm64.c
index c729b9e..1980ddc 100644
--- a/target-arm/kvm64.c
+++ b/target-arm/kvm64.c
@@ -77,9 +77,8 @@ bool kvm_arm_get_host_cpu_features(ARMHostCPUClass *ahcc)
 
 int kvm_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cs)
 {
-    ARMCPU *cpu = ARM_CPU(cs);
-    struct kvm_vcpu_init init;
     int ret;
+    ARMCPU *cpu = ARM_CPU(cs);
 
     if (cpu->kvm_target == QEMU_KVM_ARM_TARGET_NONE ||
         !arm_feature(&cpu->env, ARM_FEATURE_AARCH64)) {
@@ -87,16 +86,21 @@ int kvm_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cs)
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
-    init.target = cpu->kvm_target;
-    memset(init.features, 0, sizeof(init.features));
+    /* Determine init features for this CPU */
+    memset(cpu->kvm_init_features, 0, sizeof(cpu->kvm_init_features));
     if (cpu->start_powered_off) {
-        init.features[0] = 1 << KVM_ARM_VCPU_POWER_OFF;
+        cpu->kvm_init_features[0] |= 1 << KVM_ARM_VCPU_POWER_OFF;
+    }
+
+    /* Do KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT ioctl */
+    ret = kvm_arm_vcpu_init(cs);
+    if (ret) {
+        return ret;
     }
-    ret = kvm_vcpu_ioctl(cs, KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT, &init);
 
     /* TODO : support for save/restore/reset of system regs via tuple list */
 
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 #define AARCH64_CORE_REG(x)   (KVM_REG_ARM64 | KVM_REG_SIZE_U64 | \
diff --git a/target-arm/kvm_arm.h b/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
index dc4e233..af93105 100644
--- a/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
+++ b/target-arm/kvm_arm.h
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@
 #include "exec/memory.h"
 
 /**
+ * kvm_arm_vcpu_init:
+ * @cs: CPUState
+ *
+ * Initialize (or reinitialize) the VCPU by invoking the
+ * KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT ioctl with the CPU type and feature
+ * bitmask specified in the CPUState.
+ *
+ * Returns: 0 if success else < 0 error code
+ */
+int kvm_arm_vcpu_init(CPUState *cs);
+
+/**
  * kvm_arm_register_device:
  * @mr: memory region for this device
  * @devid: the KVM device ID
