diff --git a/hw/arm/armv7m.c b/hw/arm/armv7m.c
index f444652830..f9aa83d20e 100644
--- a/hw/arm/armv7m.c
+++ b/hw/arm/armv7m.c
@@ -178,10 +178,12 @@ static void armv7m_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
         }
     }
 
-    /* Tell the CPU where the NVIC is; it will fail realize if it doesn't
-     * have one.
+    /*
+     * Tell the CPU where the NVIC is; it will fail realize if it doesn't
+     * have one. Similarly, tell the NVIC where its CPU is.
      */
     s->cpu->env.nvic = &s->nvic;
+    s->nvic.cpu = s->cpu;
 
     object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(s->cpu), true, "realized", &err);
     if (err != NULL) {
diff --git a/hw/intc/armv7m_nvic.c b/hw/intc/armv7m_nvic.c
index 0beefb05d4..790a3d9584 100644
--- a/hw/intc/armv7m_nvic.c
+++ b/hw/intc/armv7m_nvic.c
@@ -2274,8 +2274,7 @@ static void armv7m_nvic_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     Error *err = NULL;
     int regionlen;
 
-    s->cpu = ARM_CPU(qemu_get_cpu(0));
-
+    /* The armv7m container object will have set our CPU pointer */
     if (!s->cpu || !arm_feature(&s->cpu->env, ARM_FEATURE_M)) {
         error_setg(errp, "The NVIC can only be used with a Cortex-M CPU");
         return;