diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index a20f405c2..db9f9b8b1 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -5550,37 +5550,6 @@ virQEMUCapsCacheFree(virQEMUCapsCachePtr cache)
 
 
 bool
-virQEMUCapsSupportsChardev(const virDomainDef *def,
-                           virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
-                           virDomainChrDefPtr chr)
-{
-    if ((def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_PPC) || ARCH_IS_PPC64(def->os.arch)) {
-        if (!qemuDomainIsPSeries(def))
-            return false;
-        /* only pseries need -device spapr-vty with -chardev */
-        if (chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_SERIAL &&
-            chr->info.type != VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_SPAPRVIO)
-            return false;
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    if ((def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_ARMV7L) ||
-        (def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_AARCH64)) {
-        /* TARGET_TYPE_ISA here really means 'the default', which we
-           treat as whatever the built in platform serial device is on.
-           And for platform devices we can't use -chardev */
-        if (chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_SERIAL &&
-            chr->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_TYPE_ISA)
-            return false;
-
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    return true;
-}
-
-
-bool
 virQEMUCapsSupportsVmport(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                           const virDomainDef *def)
 {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index 829cbaadb..fb22815e9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -525,10 +525,6 @@ int virQEMUCapsGetDefaultVersion(virCapsPtr caps,
 
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virQEMUCaps);
 
-bool virQEMUCapsSupportsChardev(const virDomainDef *def,
-                                virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
-                                virDomainChrDefPtr chr);
-
 bool virQEMUCapsSupportsGICVersion(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                                    virDomainVirtType virtType,
                                    virGICVersion version);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 3e82ca086..d6fd2f2b6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -9101,6 +9101,36 @@ qemuBuildChrDeviceCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
 }
 
 
+static bool
+qemuChrIsPlatformDevice(const virDomainDef *def,
+                        virDomainChrDefPtr chr)
+{
+    if ((def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_PPC) || ARCH_IS_PPC64(def->os.arch)) {
+        if (!qemuDomainIsPSeries(def))
+            return true;
+        /* only pseries need -device spapr-vty with -chardev */
+        if (chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_SERIAL &&
+            chr->info.type != VIR_DOMAIN_DEVICE_ADDRESS_TYPE_SPAPRVIO)
+            return true;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if ((def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_ARMV7L) ||
+        (def->os.arch == VIR_ARCH_AARCH64)) {
+        /* TARGET_TYPE_ISA here really means 'the default', which we
+           treat as whatever the built in platform serial device is on.
+           And for platform devices we can't use -chardev */
+        if (chr->deviceType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_DEVICE_TYPE_SERIAL &&
+            chr->targetType == VIR_DOMAIN_CHR_SERIAL_TARGET_TYPE_ISA)
+            return true;
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuBuildSerialCommandLine(virLogManagerPtr logManager,
                            virCommandPtr cmd,
@@ -9136,8 +9166,8 @@ qemuBuildSerialCommandLine(virLogManagerPtr logManager,
         virCommandAddArg(cmd, devstr);
         VIR_FREE(devstr);
 
-        /* Use -chardev with -device if they are available */
-        if (virQEMUCapsSupportsChardev(def, qemuCaps, serial)) {
+        /* If the device is not a platform device, build the devstr */
+        if (!qemuChrIsPlatformDevice(def, serial)) {
             if (qemuBuildChrDeviceCommandLine(cmd, def, serial, qemuCaps) < 0)
                 return -1;
         } else {
