diff --git a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
index 260ed73ffe..28ab126f70 100644
--- a/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
+++ b/accel/kvm/kvm-all.c
@@ -2181,8 +2181,9 @@ static int kvm_init(MachineState *ms)
      * if memory encryption object is specified then initialize the memory
      * encryption context.
      */
-    if (ms->memory_encryption) {
-        ret = sev_guest_init(ms->memory_encryption);
+    if (ms->cgs) {
+        /* FIXME handle mechanisms other than SEV */
+        ret = sev_kvm_init(ms->cgs);
         if (ret < 0) {
             goto err;
         }
diff --git a/accel/kvm/sev-stub.c b/accel/kvm/sev-stub.c
index 5db9ab8f00..3d4787ae4a 100644
--- a/accel/kvm/sev-stub.c
+++ b/accel/kvm/sev-stub.c
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "sysemu/sev.h"
 
-int sev_guest_init(const char *id)
+int sev_kvm_init(ConfidentialGuestSupport *cgs)
 {
-    return -1;
+    /* SEV can't be selected if it's not compiled */
+    g_assert_not_reached();
 }
diff --git a/hw/core/machine.c b/hw/core/machine.c
index 8909117d80..94194ab82d 100644
--- a/hw/core/machine.c
+++ b/hw/core/machine.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "hw/mem/nvdimm.h"
 #include "migration/global_state.h"
 #include "migration/vmstate.h"
+#include "exec/confidential-guest-support.h"
 
 GlobalProperty hw_compat_5_2[] = {};
 const size_t hw_compat_5_2_len = G_N_ELEMENTS(hw_compat_5_2);
@@ -427,16 +428,37 @@ static char *machine_get_memory_encryption(Object *obj, Error **errp)
 {
     MachineState *ms = MACHINE(obj);
 
-    return g_strdup(ms->memory_encryption);
+    if (ms->cgs) {
+        return g_strdup(object_get_canonical_path_component(OBJECT(ms->cgs)));
+    }
+
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 static void machine_set_memory_encryption(Object *obj, const char *value,
                                         Error **errp)
 {
-    MachineState *ms = MACHINE(obj);
+    Object *cgs =
+        object_resolve_path_component(object_get_objects_root(), value);
+
+    if (!cgs) {
+        error_setg(errp, "No such memory encryption object '%s'", value);
+        return;
+    }
 
-    g_free(ms->memory_encryption);
-    ms->memory_encryption = g_strdup(value);
+    object_property_set_link(obj, "confidential-guest-support", cgs, errp);
+}
+
+static void machine_check_confidential_guest_support(const Object *obj,
+                                                     const char *name,
+                                                     Object *new_target,
+                                                     Error **errp)
+{
+    /*
+     * So far the only constraint is that the target has the
+     * TYPE_CONFIDENTIAL_GUEST_SUPPORT interface, and that's checked
+     * by the QOM core
+     */
 }
 
 static bool machine_get_nvdimm(Object *obj, Error **errp)
@@ -836,6 +858,15 @@ static void machine_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     object_class_property_set_description(oc, "suppress-vmdesc",
         "Set on to disable self-describing migration");
 
+    object_class_property_add_link(oc, "confidential-guest-support",
+                                   TYPE_CONFIDENTIAL_GUEST_SUPPORT,
+                                   offsetof(MachineState, cgs),
+                                   machine_check_confidential_guest_support,
+                                   OBJ_PROP_LINK_STRONG);
+    object_class_property_set_description(oc, "confidential-guest-support",
+                                          "Set confidential guest scheme to support");
+
+    /* For compatibility */
     object_class_property_add_str(oc, "memory-encryption",
         machine_get_memory_encryption, machine_set_memory_encryption);
     object_class_property_set_description(oc, "memory-encryption",
@@ -1158,9 +1189,9 @@ void machine_run_board_init(MachineState *machine)
                     cc->deprecation_note);
     }
 
-    if (machine->memory_encryption) {
+    if (machine->cgs) {
         /*
-         * With memory encryption, the host can't see the real
+         * With confidential guests, the host can't see the real
          * contents of RAM, so there's no point in it trying to merge
          * areas.
          */
diff --git a/include/hw/boards.h b/include/hw/boards.h
index 17b1f3f0b9..1acd662fa5 100644
--- a/include/hw/boards.h
+++ b/include/hw/boards.h
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ struct MachineState {
     bool iommu;
     bool suppress_vmdesc;
     bool enable_graphics;
-    char *memory_encryption;
+    ConfidentialGuestSupport *cgs;
     char *ram_memdev_id;
     /*
      * convenience alias to ram_memdev_id backend memory region
diff --git a/include/sysemu/sev.h b/include/sysemu/sev.h
index 7335e59867..3b5b1aacf1 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sev.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sev.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 #include "sysemu/kvm.h"
 
-int sev_guest_init(const char *id);
+int sev_kvm_init(ConfidentialGuestSupport *cgs);
 int sev_encrypt_flash(uint8_t *ptr, uint64_t len, Error **errp);
 int sev_inject_launch_secret(const char *hdr, const char *secret,
                              uint64_t gpa, Error **errp);
diff --git a/target/i386/sev.c b/target/i386/sev.c
index 2a4b2187d6..5399a136ad 100644
--- a/target/i386/sev.c
+++ b/target/i386/sev.c
@@ -335,26 +335,6 @@ static const TypeInfo sev_guest_info = {
     }
 };
 
-static SevGuestState *
-lookup_sev_guest_info(const char *id)
-{
-    Object *obj;
-    SevGuestState *info;
-
-    obj = object_resolve_path_component(object_get_objects_root(), id);
-    if (!obj) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    info = (SevGuestState *)
-            object_dynamic_cast(obj, TYPE_SEV_GUEST);
-    if (!info) {
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    return info;
-}
-
 bool
 sev_enabled(void)
 {
@@ -682,10 +662,9 @@ sev_vm_state_change(void *opaque, int running, RunState state)
     }
 }
 
-int
-sev_guest_init(const char *id)
+int sev_kvm_init(ConfidentialGuestSupport *cgs)
 {
-    SevGuestState *sev;
+    SevGuestState *sev = SEV_GUEST(cgs);
     char *devname;
     int ret, fw_error;
     uint32_t ebx;
@@ -698,13 +677,6 @@ sev_guest_init(const char *id)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    sev = lookup_sev_guest_info(id);
-    if (!sev) {
-        error_report("%s: '%s' is not a valid '%s' object",
-                     __func__, id, TYPE_SEV_GUEST);
-        goto err;
-    }
-
     sev_guest = sev;
     sev->state = SEV_STATE_UNINIT;
 
