diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index a030e6b01e..63972ae4be 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -3219,6 +3219,7 @@ CharDriverState *qemu_chr_new_from_opts(QemuOpts *opts,
         }
 
         chr = qemu_chr_find(id);
+        chr->opts = opts;
 
     qapi_out:
         qapi_free_ChardevBackend(backend);