diff --git a/hw/boards.h b/hw/boards.h
index 7a0f20f63b..8fe0fbc8fc 100644
--- a/hw/boards.h
+++ b/hw/boards.h
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ typedef struct QEMUMachine {
     QEMUMachineInitFunc *init;
     int use_scsi;
     int max_cpus;
+    int no_serial:1,
+        no_parallel:1,
+        use_virtcon:1,
+        no_vga:1;
     int is_default;
     GlobalProperty *compat_props;
     struct QEMUMachine *next;
diff --git a/hw/s390-virtio.c b/hw/s390-virtio.c
index cc21ee6dae..51c032adc2 100644
--- a/hw/s390-virtio.c
+++ b/hw/s390-virtio.c
@@ -243,6 +243,10 @@ static QEMUMachine s390_machine = {
     .alias = "s390",
     .desc = "VirtIO based S390 machine",
     .init = s390_init,
+    .no_serial = 1,
+    .no_parallel = 1,
+    .use_virtcon = 1.
+    .no_vga = 1,
     .max_cpus = 255,
     .is_default = 1,
 };
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index b4138be0e4..d02893173c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ static void *boot_set_opaque;
 
 static int default_serial = 1;
 static int default_parallel = 1;
-static int default_virtcon = 0;
+static int default_virtcon = 1;
 static int default_monitor = 1;
 static int default_vga = 1;
 static int default_drive = 1;
@@ -5629,14 +5629,31 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     qemu_opts_foreach(&qemu_device_opts, default_driver_check, NULL, 0);
 
+    if (machine->no_serial) {
+        default_serial = 0;
+    }
+    if (machine->no_parallel) {
+        default_parallel = 0;
+    }
+    if (!machine->use_virtcon) {
+        default_virtcon = 0;
+    }
+    if (machine->no_vga) {
+        default_vga = 0;
+    }
+
     if (display_type == DT_NOGRAPHIC) {
         if (default_parallel)
             add_device_config(DEV_PARALLEL, "null");
         if (default_serial && default_monitor) {
             add_device_config(DEV_SERIAL, "mon:stdio");
+        } else if (default_virtcon && default_monitor) {
+            add_device_config(DEV_VIRTCON, "mon:stdio");
         } else {
             if (default_serial)
                 add_device_config(DEV_SERIAL, "stdio");
+            if (default_virtcon)
+                add_device_config(DEV_VIRTCON, "stdio");
             if (default_monitor)
                 monitor_parse("stdio", "readline");
         }