diff --git a/cpus.c b/cpus.c
index ba4849861d..2cad26f96c 100644
--- a/cpus.c
+++ b/cpus.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ void qtest_clock_warp(int64_t dest)
     assert(qtest_enabled());
     aio_context = qemu_get_aio_context();
     while (clock < dest) {
-        int64_t deadline = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+        int64_t deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
         int64_t warp = qemu_soonest_timeout(dest - clock, deadline);
 
         seqlock_write_lock(&timers_state.vm_clock_seqlock,
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ void qemu_start_warp_timer(void)
 
     /* We want to use the earliest deadline from ALL vm_clocks */
     clock = qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL_RT);
-    deadline = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+    deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
     if (deadline < 0) {
         static bool notified;
         if (!icount_sleep && !notified) {
@@ -1356,7 +1356,7 @@ static int64_t tcg_get_icount_limit(void)
     int64_t deadline;
 
     if (replay_mode != REPLAY_MODE_PLAY) {
-        deadline = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+        deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
 
         /* Maintain prior (possibly buggy) behaviour where if no deadline
          * was set (as there is no QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL timer) or it is more than
@@ -1377,8 +1377,7 @@ static void handle_icount_deadline(void)
 {
     assert(qemu_in_vcpu_thread());
     if (use_icount) {
-        int64_t deadline =
-            qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+        int64_t deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
 
         if (deadline == 0) {
             /* Wake up other AioContexts.  */
diff --git a/include/qemu/timer.h b/include/qemu/timer.h
index a86330c987..cfc77450f2 100644
--- a/include/qemu/timer.h
+++ b/include/qemu/timer.h
@@ -176,16 +176,15 @@ bool qemu_clock_expired(QEMUClockType type);
 bool qemu_clock_use_for_deadline(QEMUClockType type);
 
 /**
- * qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all:
- * @type: the clock type
+ * virtual_clock_deadline_ns:
  *
  * Calculate the deadline across all timer lists associated
- * with a clock (as opposed to just the default one)
+ * with virtual clock (excluding external timers)
  * in nanoseconds, or -1 if no timer is set to expire.
  *
  * Returns: time until expiry in nanoseconds or -1
  */
-int64_t qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMUClockType type);
+int64_t virtual_clock_deadline_ns(void);
 
 /**
  * qemu_clock_get_main_loop_timerlist:
diff --git a/qtest.c b/qtest.c
index 527141785f..8000ee0714 100644
--- a/qtest.c
+++ b/qtest.c
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@ static void qtest_process_command(CharBackend *chr, gchar **words)
             int ret = qemu_strtoi64(words[1], NULL, 0, &ns);
             g_assert(ret == 0);
         } else {
-            ns = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+            ns = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
         }
         qtest_clock_warp(qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL) + ns);
         qtest_send_prefix(chr);
diff --git a/tests/ptimer-test-stubs.c b/tests/ptimer-test-stubs.c
index 54b3fd26f6..31b09c88f3 100644
--- a/tests/ptimer-test-stubs.c
+++ b/tests/ptimer-test-stubs.c
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ int64_t qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMUClockType type)
     return ptimer_test_time_ns;
 }
 
-int64_t qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMUClockType type)
+int64_t virtual_clock_deadline_ns(void)
 {
     QEMUTimerList *timer_list = main_loop_tlg.tl[type];
     QEMUTimer *t = timer_list->active_timers.next;
diff --git a/tests/ptimer-test.c b/tests/ptimer-test.c
index b30aad0737..338a4e0c10 100644
--- a/tests/ptimer-test.c
+++ b/tests/ptimer-test.c
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ static void ptimer_test_set_qemu_time_ns(int64_t ns)
 
 static void qemu_clock_step(uint64_t ns)
 {
-    int64_t deadline = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+    int64_t deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
     int64_t advanced_time = qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL) + ns;
 
     while (deadline != -1 && deadline <= advanced_time) {
         ptimer_test_set_qemu_time_ns(deadline);
         ptimer_test_expire_qemu_timers(deadline, QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
-        deadline = qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+        deadline = virtual_clock_deadline_ns();
     }
 
     ptimer_test_set_qemu_time_ns(advanced_time);
diff --git a/util/qemu-timer.c b/util/qemu-timer.c
index 1cc1b2f2c3..88fbf04469 100644
--- a/util/qemu-timer.c
+++ b/util/qemu-timer.c
@@ -236,6 +236,7 @@ int64_t timerlist_deadline_ns(QEMUTimerList *timer_list)
         qemu_mutex_unlock(&timer_list->active_timers_lock);
         return -1;
     }
+
     expire_time = timer_list->active_timers->expire_time;
     qemu_mutex_unlock(&timer_list->active_timers_lock);
 
@@ -248,19 +249,43 @@ int64_t timerlist_deadline_ns(QEMUTimerList *timer_list)
     return delta;
 }
 
-/* Calculate the soonest deadline across all timerlists attached
- * to the clock. This is used for the icount timeout so we
- * ignore whether or not the clock should be used in deadline
- * calculations.
+/*
+ * Calculate the soonest deadline across all timerlists attached
+ * to the virtual clock (excluding the external timers that do not affect
+ * the replayed guest state.
  */
-int64_t qemu_clock_deadline_ns_all(QEMUClockType type)
+int64_t virtual_clock_deadline_ns(void)
 {
     int64_t deadline = -1;
+    int64_t delta;
+    int64_t expire_time;
+    QEMUTimer *ts;
     QEMUTimerList *timer_list;
-    QEMUClock *clock = qemu_clock_ptr(type);
+    QEMUClock *clock = qemu_clock_ptr(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+
+    if (!clock->enabled) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     QLIST_FOREACH(timer_list, &clock->timerlists, list) {
-        deadline = qemu_soonest_timeout(deadline,
-                                        timerlist_deadline_ns(timer_list));
+        qemu_mutex_lock(&timer_list->active_timers_lock);
+        ts = timer_list->active_timers;
+        /* Skip all external timers */
+        while (ts && (ts->attributes & QEMU_TIMER_ATTR_EXTERNAL)) {
+            ts = ts->next;
+        }
+        if (!ts) {
+            qemu_mutex_unlock(&timer_list->active_timers_lock);
+            continue;
+        }
+        expire_time = ts->expire_time;
+        qemu_mutex_unlock(&timer_list->active_timers_lock);
+
+        delta = expire_time - qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
+        if (delta <= 0) {
+            delta = 0;
+        }
+        deadline = qemu_soonest_timeout(deadline, delta);
     }
     return deadline;
 }
