diff --git a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
index bbc60146d1..49e755ec4a 100644
--- a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
+++ b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
@@ -2349,7 +2349,7 @@ static int kvm_init(MachineState *ms)
     QTAILQ_INIT(&s->kvm_sw_breakpoints);
 #endif
     QLIST_INIT(&s->kvm_parked_vcpus);
-    s->fd = qemu_open_old("/dev/kvm", O_RDWR);
+    s->fd = qemu_open_old(s->device ?: "/dev/kvm", O_RDWR);
     if (s->fd == -1) {
         fprintf(stderr, "Could not access KVM kernel module: %m\n");
         ret = -errno;
@@ -3585,6 +3585,24 @@ static void kvm_set_dirty_ring_size(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
     s->kvm_dirty_ring_size = value;
 }
 
+static char *kvm_get_device(Object *obj,
+                            Error **errp G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    KVMState *s = KVM_STATE(obj);
+
+    return g_strdup(s->device);
+}
+
+static void kvm_set_device(Object *obj,
+                           const char *value,
+                           Error **errp G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    KVMState *s = KVM_STATE(obj);
+
+    g_free(s->device);
+    s->device = g_strdup(value);
+}
+
 static void kvm_accel_instance_init(Object *obj)
 {
     KVMState *s = KVM_STATE(obj);
@@ -3603,6 +3621,7 @@ static void kvm_accel_instance_init(Object *obj)
     s->xen_version = 0;
     s->xen_gnttab_max_frames = 64;
     s->xen_evtchn_max_pirq = 256;
+    s->device = NULL;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -3643,6 +3662,10 @@ static void kvm_accel_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     object_class_property_set_description(oc, "dirty-ring-size",
         "Size of KVM dirty page ring buffer (default: 0, i.e. use bitmap)");
 
+    object_class_property_add_str(oc, "device", kvm_get_device, kvm_set_device);
+    object_class_property_set_description(oc, "device",
+        "Path to the device node to use (default: /dev/kvm)");
+
     kvm_arch_accel_class_init(oc);
 }
 
diff --git a/include/sysemu/kvm_int.h b/include/sysemu/kvm_int.h
index fd846394be..882e37e12c 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/kvm_int.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/kvm_int.h
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ struct KVMState
     uint32_t xen_caps;
     uint16_t xen_gnttab_max_frames;
     uint16_t xen_evtchn_max_pirq;
+    char *device;
 };
 
 void kvm_memory_listener_register(KVMState *s, KVMMemoryListener *kml,
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index b66570ae00..2ae51005c1 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -188,7 +188,8 @@ DEF("accel", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_accel,
     "                dirty-ring-size=n (KVM dirty ring GFN count, default 0)\n"
     "                eager-split-size=n (KVM Eager Page Split chunk size, default 0, disabled. ARM only)\n"
     "                notify-vmexit=run|internal-error|disable,notify-window=n (enable notify VM exit and set notify window, x86 only)\n"
-    "                thread=single|multi (enable multi-threaded TCG)\n", QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
+    "                thread=single|multi (enable multi-threaded TCG)\n"
+    "                device=path (KVM device path, default /dev/kvm)\n", QEMU_ARCH_ALL)
 SRST
 ``-accel name[,prop=value[,...]]``
     This is used to enable an accelerator. Depending on the target
@@ -269,6 +270,11 @@ SRST
         open up for a specified of time (i.e. notify-window).
         Default: notify-vmexit=run,notify-window=0.
 
+    ``device=path``
+        Sets the path to the KVM device node. Defaults to ``/dev/kvm``. This
+        option can be used to pass the KVM device to use via a file descriptor
+        by setting the value to ``/dev/fdset/NN``.
+
 ERST
 
 DEF("smp", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_smp,