diff --git a/gdbstub.c b/gdbstub.c
index b129df4e597..462f89edfee 100644
--- a/gdbstub.c
+++ b/gdbstub.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #include "qemu/sockets.h"
 #include "sysemu/hw_accel.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "exec/exec-all.h"
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
diff --git a/hw/Makefile.objs b/hw/Makefile.objs
index 82aa7fab8e4..d770926ba96 100644
--- a/hw/Makefile.objs
+++ b/hw/Makefile.objs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ devices-dirs-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += watchdog/
 devices-dirs-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += xen/
 devices-dirs-$(CONFIG_MEM_DEVICE) += mem/
 devices-dirs-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += smbios/
+devices-dirs-y += semihosting/
 devices-dirs-y += core/
 common-obj-y += $(devices-dirs-y)
 obj-y += $(devices-dirs-y)
diff --git a/hw/mips/mips_malta.c b/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
index 439665ab45e..3b009fda25f 100644
--- a/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
+++ b/hw/mips/mips_malta.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "hw/empty_slot.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "hw/mips/cps.h"
 
 #define ENVP_ADDR		0x80002000l
diff --git a/hw/semihosting/Makefile.objs b/hw/semihosting/Makefile.objs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..546954f4ff4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/semihosting/Makefile.objs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+common-obj-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += config.o
diff --git a/hw/semihosting/config.c b/hw/semihosting/config.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f1d3fe1e4c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/semihosting/config.c
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+/*
+ * Semihosting configuration
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Imagination Technologies
+ * Copyright (c) 2019 Linaro Ltd
+ *
+ * This controls the configuration of semihosting for all guest
+ * targets that support it. Architecture specific handling is handled
+ * in target/HW/HW-semi.c
+ *
+ * Semihosting is sightly strange in that it is also supported by some
+ * linux-user targets. However in that use case no configuration of
+ * the outputs and command lines is supported.
+ *
+ * The config module is common to all softmmu targets however as vl.c
+ * needs to link against the helpers.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/option.h"
+#include "qemu/config-file.h"
+#include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
+
+QemuOptsList qemu_semihosting_config_opts = {
+    .name = "semihosting-config",
+    .implied_opt_name = "enable",
+    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qemu_semihosting_config_opts.head),
+    .desc = {
+        {
+            .name = "enable",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
+        }, {
+            .name = "target",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+        }, {
+            .name = "arg",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+        },
+        { /* end of list */ }
+    },
+};
+
+typedef struct SemihostingConfig {
+    bool enabled;
+    SemihostingTarget target;
+    const char **argv;
+    int argc;
+    const char *cmdline; /* concatenated argv */
+} SemihostingConfig;
+
+static SemihostingConfig semihosting;
+
+bool semihosting_enabled(void)
+{
+    return semihosting.enabled;
+}
+
+SemihostingTarget semihosting_get_target(void)
+{
+    return semihosting.target;
+}
+
+const char *semihosting_get_arg(int i)
+{
+    if (i >= semihosting.argc) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    return semihosting.argv[i];
+}
+
+int semihosting_get_argc(void)
+{
+    return semihosting.argc;
+}
+
+const char *semihosting_get_cmdline(void)
+{
+    if (semihosting.cmdline == NULL && semihosting.argc > 0) {
+        semihosting.cmdline = g_strjoinv(" ", (gchar **)semihosting.argv);
+    }
+    return semihosting.cmdline;
+}
+
+static int add_semihosting_arg(void *opaque,
+                               const char *name, const char *val,
+                               Error **errp)
+{
+    SemihostingConfig *s = opaque;
+    if (strcmp(name, "arg") == 0) {
+        s->argc++;
+        /* one extra element as g_strjoinv() expects NULL-terminated array */
+        s->argv = g_realloc(s->argv, (s->argc + 1) * sizeof(void *));
+        s->argv[s->argc - 1] = val;
+        s->argv[s->argc] = NULL;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* Use strings passed via -kernel/-append to initialize semihosting.argv[] */
+void semihosting_arg_fallback(const char *file, const char *cmd)
+{
+    char *cmd_token;
+
+    /* argv[0] */
+    add_semihosting_arg(&semihosting, "arg", file, NULL);
+
+    /* split -append and initialize argv[1..n] */
+    cmd_token = strtok(g_strdup(cmd), " ");
+    while (cmd_token) {
+        add_semihosting_arg(&semihosting, "arg", cmd_token, NULL);
+        cmd_token = strtok(NULL, " ");
+    }
+}
+
+void qemu_semihosting_enable(void)
+{
+    semihosting.enabled = true;
+    semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
+}
+
+int qemu_semihosting_config_options(const char *optarg)
+{
+    QemuOptsList *opt_list = qemu_find_opts("semihosting-config");
+    QemuOpts *opts = qemu_opts_parse_noisily(opt_list, optarg, false);
+
+    semihosting.enabled = true;
+
+    if (opts != NULL) {
+        semihosting.enabled = qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "enable",
+                                                true);
+        const char *target = qemu_opt_get(opts, "target");
+        if (target != NULL) {
+            if (strcmp("native", target) == 0) {
+                semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_NATIVE;
+            } else if (strcmp("gdb", target) == 0) {
+                semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_GDB;
+            } else  if (strcmp("auto", target) == 0) {
+                semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
+            } else {
+                error_report("unsupported semihosting-config %s",
+                             optarg);
+                return 1;
+            }
+        } else {
+            semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
+        }
+        /* Set semihosting argument count and vector */
+        qemu_opt_foreach(opts, add_semihosting_arg,
+                         &semihosting, NULL);
+    } else {
+        error_report("unsupported semihosting-config %s", optarg);
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
diff --git a/include/exec/semihost.h b/include/hw/semihosting/semihost.h
similarity index 85%
rename from include/exec/semihost.h
rename to include/hw/semihosting/semihost.h
index 5980939c7b8..07ea40a322f 100644
--- a/include/exec/semihost.h
+++ b/include/hw/semihosting/semihost.h
@@ -51,12 +51,16 @@ static inline const char *semihosting_get_cmdline(void)
 {
     return NULL;
 }
-#else
+#else /* !CONFIG_USER_ONLY */
 bool semihosting_enabled(void);
 SemihostingTarget semihosting_get_target(void);
 const char *semihosting_get_arg(int i);
 int semihosting_get_argc(void);
 const char *semihosting_get_cmdline(void);
-#endif
+void semihosting_arg_fallback(const char *file, const char *cmd);
+/* for vl.c hooks */
+void qemu_semihosting_enable(void);
+int qemu_semihosting_config_options(const char *opt);
+#endif /* CONFIG_USER_ONLY */
 
-#endif
+#endif /* SEMIHOST_H */
diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 5f133cae837..61579ae71ef 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -193,5 +193,6 @@ extern QemuOptsList qemu_nic_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_net_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_global_opts;
 extern QemuOptsList qemu_mon_opts;
+extern QemuOptsList qemu_semihosting_config_opts;
 
 #endif
diff --git a/target/arm/arm-semi.c b/target/arm/arm-semi.c
index ddb94e0aba0..a99049c7d58 100644
--- a/target/arm/arm-semi.c
+++ b/target/arm/arm-semi.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 
 #include "cpu.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #ifdef CONFIG_USER_ONLY
 #include "qemu.h"
 
diff --git a/target/arm/helper.c b/target/arm/helper.c
index acd23c53ca6..719fb92e600 100644
--- a/target/arm/helper.c
+++ b/target/arm/helper.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #include "exec/cpu_ldst.h"
 #include "arm_ldst.h"
 #include <zlib.h> /* For crc32 */
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "sysemu/cpus.h"
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
 #include "fpu/softfloat.h"
diff --git a/target/arm/translate-a64.c b/target/arm/translate-a64.c
index 42999c58011..092f0df3c4b 100644
--- a/target/arm/translate-a64.c
+++ b/target/arm/translate-a64.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include "qemu/host-utils.h"
 #include "qemu/qemu-print.h"
 
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "exec/gen-icount.h"
 
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
diff --git a/target/arm/translate.c b/target/arm/translate.c
index 298c262825d..d240c1b7144 100644
--- a/target/arm/translate.c
+++ b/target/arm/translate.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #include "qemu/bitops.h"
 #include "qemu/qemu-print.h"
 #include "arm_ldst.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
 #include "exec/helper-gen.h"
diff --git a/target/lm32/helper.c b/target/lm32/helper.c
index 20ea17ba23c..8cd48400521 100644
--- a/target/lm32/helper.c
+++ b/target/lm32/helper.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #include "exec/exec-all.h"
 #include "qemu/host-utils.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "exec/log.h"
 
 bool lm32_cpu_tlb_fill(CPUState *cs, vaddr address, int size,
diff --git a/target/m68k/op_helper.c b/target/m68k/op_helper.c
index 1ecc772b5cb..bde2d551ff6 100644
--- a/target/m68k/op_helper.c
+++ b/target/m68k/op_helper.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
 #include "exec/exec-all.h"
 #include "exec/cpu_ldst.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
 
diff --git a/target/mips/mips-semi.c b/target/mips/mips-semi.c
index a7aefbaefc8..eac8374fb34 100644
--- a/target/mips/mips-semi.c
+++ b/target/mips/mips-semi.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #include "qemu/log.h"
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
 #include "exec/softmmu-semi.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 
 typedef enum UHIOp {
     UHI_exit = 1,
diff --git a/target/mips/translate.c b/target/mips/translate.c
index f96c0d01ef1..3cd5b11b16b 100644
--- a/target/mips/translate.c
+++ b/target/mips/translate.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
 #include "exec/helper-gen.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 
 #include "target/mips/trace.h"
 #include "trace-tcg.h"
diff --git a/target/nios2/helper.c b/target/nios2/helper.c
index ffb83fc1045..57c97bde3c6 100644
--- a/target/nios2/helper.c
+++ b/target/nios2/helper.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 #include "exec/cpu_ldst.h"
 #include "exec/log.h"
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
 
diff --git a/target/xtensa/translate.c b/target/xtensa/translate.c
index 53dce470c17..6f1da878752 100644
--- a/target/xtensa/translate.c
+++ b/target/xtensa/translate.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 #include "qemu/qemu-print.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "exec/cpu_ldst.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "exec/translator.h"
 
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
diff --git a/target/xtensa/xtensa-semi.c b/target/xtensa/xtensa-semi.c
index 5f5ce4f344c..38efa3485af 100644
--- a/target/xtensa/xtensa-semi.c
+++ b/target/xtensa/xtensa-semi.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "chardev/char-fe.h"
 #include "exec/helper-proto.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qemu/log.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 5550bd7693c..be8963b2705 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #include "qapi/opts-visitor.h"
 #include "qapi/clone-visitor.h"
 #include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
-#include "exec/semihost.h"
+#include "hw/semihosting/semihost.h"
 #include "crypto/init.h"
 #include "sysemu/replay.h"
 #include "qapi/qapi-events-run-state.h"
@@ -501,25 +501,6 @@ static QemuOptsList qemu_icount_opts = {
     },
 };
 
-static QemuOptsList qemu_semihosting_config_opts = {
-    .name = "semihosting-config",
-    .implied_opt_name = "enable",
-    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qemu_semihosting_config_opts.head),
-    .desc = {
-        {
-            .name = "enable",
-            .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
-        }, {
-            .name = "target",
-            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
-        }, {
-            .name = "arg",
-            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
-        },
-        { /* end of list */ }
-    },
-};
-
 static QemuOptsList qemu_fw_cfg_opts = {
     .name = "fw_cfg",
     .implied_opt_name = "name",
@@ -1351,80 +1332,6 @@ static void configure_msg(QemuOpts *opts)
     enable_timestamp_msg = qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "timestamp", true);
 }
 
-/***********************************************************/
-/* Semihosting */
-
-typedef struct SemihostingConfig {
-    bool enabled;
-    SemihostingTarget target;
-    const char **argv;
-    int argc;
-    const char *cmdline; /* concatenated argv */
-} SemihostingConfig;
-
-static SemihostingConfig semihosting;
-
-bool semihosting_enabled(void)
-{
-    return semihosting.enabled;
-}
-
-SemihostingTarget semihosting_get_target(void)
-{
-    return semihosting.target;
-}
-
-const char *semihosting_get_arg(int i)
-{
-    if (i >= semihosting.argc) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-    return semihosting.argv[i];
-}
-
-int semihosting_get_argc(void)
-{
-    return semihosting.argc;
-}
-
-const char *semihosting_get_cmdline(void)
-{
-    if (semihosting.cmdline == NULL && semihosting.argc > 0) {
-        semihosting.cmdline = g_strjoinv(" ", (gchar **)semihosting.argv);
-    }
-    return semihosting.cmdline;
-}
-
-static int add_semihosting_arg(void *opaque,
-                               const char *name, const char *val,
-                               Error **errp)
-{
-    SemihostingConfig *s = opaque;
-    if (strcmp(name, "arg") == 0) {
-        s->argc++;
-        /* one extra element as g_strjoinv() expects NULL-terminated array */
-        s->argv = g_realloc(s->argv, (s->argc + 1) * sizeof(void *));
-        s->argv[s->argc - 1] = val;
-        s->argv[s->argc] = NULL;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-/* Use strings passed via -kernel/-append to initialize semihosting.argv[] */
-static inline void semihosting_arg_fallback(const char *file, const char *cmd)
-{
-    char *cmd_token;
-
-    /* argv[0] */
-    add_semihosting_arg(&semihosting, "arg", file, NULL);
-
-    /* split -append and initialize argv[1..n] */
-    cmd_token = strtok(g_strdup(cmd), " ");
-    while (cmd_token) {
-        add_semihosting_arg(&semihosting, "arg", cmd_token, NULL);
-        cmd_token = strtok(NULL, " ");
-    }
-}
 
 /* Now we still need this for compatibility with XEN. */
 bool has_igd_gfx_passthru;
@@ -3743,37 +3650,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 nb_option_roms++;
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_semihosting:
-                semihosting.enabled = true;
-                semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
+                qemu_semihosting_enable();
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_semihosting_config:
-                semihosting.enabled = true;
-                opts = qemu_opts_parse_noisily(qemu_find_opts("semihosting-config"),
-                                               optarg, false);
-                if (opts != NULL) {
-                    semihosting.enabled = qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "enable",
-                                                            true);
-                    const char *target = qemu_opt_get(opts, "target");
-                    if (target != NULL) {
-                        if (strcmp("native", target) == 0) {
-                            semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_NATIVE;
-                        } else if (strcmp("gdb", target) == 0) {
-                            semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_GDB;
-                        } else  if (strcmp("auto", target) == 0) {
-                            semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
-                        } else {
-                            error_report("unsupported semihosting-config %s",
-                                         optarg);
-                            exit(1);
-                        }
-                    } else {
-                        semihosting.target = SEMIHOSTING_TARGET_AUTO;
-                    }
-                    /* Set semihosting argument count and vector */
-                    qemu_opt_foreach(opts, add_semihosting_arg,
-                                     &semihosting, NULL);
-                } else {
-                    error_report("unsupported semihosting-config %s", optarg);
+                if (qemu_semihosting_config_options(optarg) != 0) {
                     exit(1);
                 }
                 break;
