diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr.c b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
index c3bb99160545..3a7868ed80da 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr.c
@@ -1333,13 +1333,13 @@ static void spapr_create_nvram(sPAPRMachineState *spapr)
 
 static void spapr_rtc_create(sPAPRMachineState *spapr)
 {
-    DeviceState *dev = qdev_create(NULL, TYPE_SPAPR_RTC);
-
-    qdev_init_nofail(dev);
-    spapr->rtc = dev;
-
-    object_property_add_alias(qdev_get_machine(), "rtc-time",
-                              OBJECT(spapr->rtc), "date", NULL);
+    object_initialize(&spapr->rtc, sizeof(spapr->rtc), TYPE_SPAPR_RTC);
+    object_property_add_child(OBJECT(spapr), "rtc", OBJECT(&spapr->rtc),
+                              &error_fatal);
+    object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(&spapr->rtc), true, "realized",
+                              &error_fatal);
+    object_property_add_alias(OBJECT(spapr), "rtc-time", OBJECT(&spapr->rtc),
+                              "date", &error_fatal);
 }
 
 /* Returns whether we want to use VGA or not */
@@ -1377,7 +1377,7 @@ static int spapr_post_load(void *opaque, int version_id)
      * So when migrating from those versions, poke the incoming offset
      * value into the RTC device */
     if (version_id < 3) {
-        err = spapr_rtc_import_offset(spapr->rtc, spapr->rtc_offset);
+        err = spapr_rtc_import_offset(&spapr->rtc, spapr->rtc_offset);
     }
 
     return err;
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_events.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_events.c
index 24a5758e6243..f0b28d811242 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_events.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_events.c
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ static void spapr_init_maina(struct rtas_event_log_v6_maina *maina,
     maina->hdr.section_id = cpu_to_be16(RTAS_LOG_V6_SECTION_ID_MAINA);
     maina->hdr.section_length = cpu_to_be16(sizeof(*maina));
     /* FIXME: section version, subtype and creator id? */
-    spapr_rtc_read(spapr->rtc, &tm, NULL);
+    spapr_rtc_read(&spapr->rtc, &tm, NULL);
     year = tm.tm_year + 1900;
     maina->creation_date = cpu_to_be32((to_bcd(year / 100) << 24)
                                        | (to_bcd(year % 100) << 16)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_rtc.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_rtc.c
index 3a17ac42e44b..00a4e4c717d5 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_rtc.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_rtc.c
@@ -33,19 +33,8 @@
 #include "qapi-event.h"
 #include "qemu/cutils.h"
 
-#define SPAPR_RTC(obj) \
-    OBJECT_CHECK(sPAPRRTCState, (obj), TYPE_SPAPR_RTC)
-
-typedef struct sPAPRRTCState sPAPRRTCState;
-struct sPAPRRTCState {
-    /*< private >*/
-    SysBusDevice parent_obj;
-    int64_t ns_offset;
-};
-
-void spapr_rtc_read(DeviceState *dev, struct tm *tm, uint32_t *ns)
+void spapr_rtc_read(sPAPRRTCState *rtc, struct tm *tm, uint32_t *ns)
 {
-    sPAPRRTCState *rtc = SPAPR_RTC(dev);
     int64_t host_ns = qemu_clock_get_ns(rtc_clock);
     int64_t guest_ns;
     time_t guest_s;
@@ -63,16 +52,12 @@ void spapr_rtc_read(DeviceState *dev, struct tm *tm, uint32_t *ns)
     }
 }
 
-int spapr_rtc_import_offset(DeviceState *dev, int64_t legacy_offset)
+int spapr_rtc_import_offset(sPAPRRTCState *rtc, int64_t legacy_offset)
 {
-    sPAPRRTCState *rtc;
-
-    if (!dev) {
+    if (!rtc) {
         return -ENODEV;
     }
 
-    rtc = SPAPR_RTC(dev);
-
     rtc->ns_offset = legacy_offset * NANOSECONDS_PER_SECOND;
 
     return 0;
@@ -91,12 +76,7 @@ static void rtas_get_time_of_day(PowerPCCPU *cpu, sPAPRMachineState *spapr,
         return;
     }
 
-    if (!spapr->rtc) {
-        rtas_st(rets, 0, RTAS_OUT_HW_ERROR);
-        return;
-    }
-
-    spapr_rtc_read(spapr->rtc, &tm, &ns);
+    spapr_rtc_read(&spapr->rtc, &tm, &ns);
 
     rtas_st(rets, 0, RTAS_OUT_SUCCESS);
     rtas_st(rets, 1, tm.tm_year + 1900);
@@ -113,7 +93,7 @@ static void rtas_set_time_of_day(PowerPCCPU *cpu, sPAPRMachineState *spapr,
                                  target_ulong args,
                                  uint32_t nret, target_ulong rets)
 {
-    sPAPRRTCState *rtc;
+    sPAPRRTCState *rtc = &spapr->rtc;
     struct tm tm;
     time_t new_s;
     int64_t host_ns;
@@ -123,11 +103,6 @@ static void rtas_set_time_of_day(PowerPCCPU *cpu, sPAPRMachineState *spapr,
         return;
     }
 
-    if (!spapr->rtc) {
-        rtas_st(rets, 0, RTAS_OUT_HW_ERROR);
-        return;
-    }
-
     tm.tm_year = rtas_ld(args, 0) - 1900;
     tm.tm_mon = rtas_ld(args, 1) - 1;
     tm.tm_mday = rtas_ld(args, 2);
@@ -144,8 +119,6 @@ static void rtas_set_time_of_day(PowerPCCPU *cpu, sPAPRMachineState *spapr,
     /* Generate a monitor event for the change */
     qapi_event_send_rtc_change(qemu_timedate_diff(&tm), &error_abort);
 
-    rtc = SPAPR_RTC(spapr->rtc);
-
     host_ns = qemu_clock_get_ns(rtc_clock);
 
     rtc->ns_offset = (new_s * NANOSECONDS_PER_SECOND) - host_ns;
@@ -155,7 +128,7 @@ static void rtas_set_time_of_day(PowerPCCPU *cpu, sPAPRMachineState *spapr,
 
 static void spapr_rtc_qom_date(Object *obj, struct tm *current_tm, Error **errp)
 {
-    spapr_rtc_read(DEVICE(obj), current_tm, NULL);
+    spapr_rtc_read(SPAPR_RTC(obj), current_tm, NULL);
 }
 
 static void spapr_rtc_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
@@ -200,7 +173,7 @@ static void spapr_rtc_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 
 static const TypeInfo spapr_rtc_info = {
     .name          = TYPE_SPAPR_RTC,
-    .parent        = TYPE_SYS_BUS_DEVICE,
+    .parent        = TYPE_DEVICE,
     .instance_size = sizeof(sPAPRRTCState),
     .class_init    = spapr_rtc_class_init,
 };
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
index 808aac870359..ba9e689ee230 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr.h
@@ -20,6 +20,18 @@ typedef struct sPAPREventSource sPAPREventSource;
 
 #define SPAPR_TIMEBASE_FREQ     512000000ULL
 
+#define TYPE_SPAPR_RTC "spapr-rtc"
+
+#define SPAPR_RTC(obj)                                  \
+    OBJECT_CHECK(sPAPRRTCState, (obj), TYPE_SPAPR_RTC)
+
+typedef struct sPAPRRTCState sPAPRRTCState;
+struct sPAPRRTCState {
+    /*< private >*/
+    DeviceState parent_obj;
+    int64_t ns_offset;
+};
+
 typedef struct sPAPRMachineClass sPAPRMachineClass;
 
 #define TYPE_SPAPR_MACHINE      "spapr-machine"
@@ -58,7 +70,7 @@ struct sPAPRMachineState {
     QLIST_HEAD(, sPAPRPHBState) phbs;
     struct sPAPRNVRAM *nvram;
     ICSState *ics;
-    DeviceState *rtc;
+    sPAPRRTCState rtc;
 
     void *htab;
     uint32_t htab_shift;
@@ -629,11 +641,10 @@ struct sPAPRConfigureConnectorState {
 
 void spapr_ccs_reset_hook(void *opaque);
 
-#define TYPE_SPAPR_RTC "spapr-rtc"
-#define TYPE_SPAPR_RNG "spapr-rng"
+void spapr_rtc_read(sPAPRRTCState *rtc, struct tm *tm, uint32_t *ns);
+int spapr_rtc_import_offset(sPAPRRTCState *rtc, int64_t legacy_offset);
 
-void spapr_rtc_read(DeviceState *dev, struct tm *tm, uint32_t *ns);
-int spapr_rtc_import_offset(DeviceState *dev, int64_t legacy_offset);
+#define TYPE_SPAPR_RNG "spapr-rng"
 
 int spapr_rng_populate_dt(void *fdt);
 
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/xics.h b/include/hw/ppc/xics.h
index 9a5e715fe553..ce230183a106 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/xics.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/xics.h
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 #ifndef XICS_H
 #define XICS_H
 
-#include "hw/sysbus.h"
+#include "hw/qdev.h"
 
 #define XICS_IPI        0x2
 #define XICS_BUID       0x1
