diff --git a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
index c99682b07d..62804cc228 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/s390-virtio-ccw.c
@@ -229,16 +229,9 @@ static void s390_init_ipl_dev(const char *kernel_filename,
 
 static void s390_create_virtio_net(BusState *bus, const char *name)
 {
-    int i;
+    DeviceState *dev;
 
-    for (i = 0; i < nb_nics; i++) {
-        NICInfo *nd = &nd_table[i];
-        DeviceState *dev;
-
-        qemu_check_nic_model(nd, "virtio");
-
-        dev = qdev_new(name);
-        qdev_set_nic_properties(dev, nd);
+    while ((dev = qemu_create_nic_device(name, true, "virtio"))) {
         qdev_realize_and_unref(dev, bus, &error_fatal);
     }
 }