diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index bd5b55c514..989cbc2b7b 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -161,8 +161,6 @@ void hmp_pcie_aer_inject_error(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 
 #define MAX_SERIAL_PORTS 4
 
-extern Chardev *serial_hds[MAX_SERIAL_PORTS];
-
 /* Return the Chardev for serial port i, or NULL if none */
 Chardev *serial_hd(int i);
 
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 6daf026da6..a8a98c5a37 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ QEMUClockType rtc_clock;
 int vga_interface_type = VGA_NONE;
 static DisplayOptions dpy;
 int no_frame;
-Chardev *serial_hds[MAX_SERIAL_PORTS];
+static int num_serial_hds = 0;
+static Chardev **serial_hds = NULL;
 Chardev *parallel_hds[MAX_PARALLEL_PORTS];
 Chardev *virtcon_hds[MAX_VIRTIO_CONSOLES];
 Chardev *sclp_hds[MAX_SCLP_CONSOLES];
@@ -2496,30 +2497,28 @@ static int foreach_device_config(int type, int (*func)(const char *cmdline))
 
 static int serial_parse(const char *devname)
 {
-    static int index = 0;
+    int index = num_serial_hds;
     char label[32];
 
     if (strcmp(devname, "none") == 0)
         return 0;
-    if (index == MAX_SERIAL_PORTS) {
-        error_report("too many serial ports");
-        exit(1);
-    }
     snprintf(label, sizeof(label), "serial%d", index);
+    serial_hds = g_renew(Chardev *, serial_hds, index + 1);
+
     serial_hds[index] = qemu_chr_new(label, devname);
     if (!serial_hds[index]) {
         error_report("could not connect serial device"
                      " to character backend '%s'", devname);
         return -1;
     }
-    index++;
+    num_serial_hds++;
     return 0;
 }
 
 Chardev *serial_hd(int i)
 {
     assert(i >= 0);
-    if (i < ARRAY_SIZE(serial_hds)) {
+    if (i < num_serial_hds) {
         return serial_hds[i];
     }
     return NULL;