diff --git a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
index 7e3bc0ec7f..4c5e9e4373 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/ppc440_bamboo.c
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ static void bamboo_init(MachineState *machine)
     /* SDRAM controller */
     memset(ram_bases, 0, sizeof(ram_bases));
     memset(ram_sizes, 0, sizeof(ram_sizes));
-    ppc4xx_sdram_banks(machine->ram_size, PPC440EP_SDRAM_NR_BANKS, ram_memories,
+    ppc4xx_sdram_banks(machine->ram, PPC440EP_SDRAM_NR_BANKS, ram_memories,
                        ram_bases, ram_sizes, ppc440ep_sdram_bank_sizes);
     /* XXX 440EP's ECC interrupts are on UIC1, but we've only created UIC0. */
     ppc4xx_sdram_init(env, pic[14], PPC440EP_SDRAM_NR_BANKS, ram_memories,
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ static void bamboo_machine_init(MachineClass *mc)
     mc->desc = "bamboo";
     mc->init = bamboo_init;
     mc->default_cpu_type = POWERPC_CPU_TYPE_NAME("440epb");
+    mc->default_ram_id = "ppc4xx.sdram";
 }
 
 DEFINE_MACHINE("bamboo", bamboo_machine_init)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/ppc4xx_devs.c b/hw/ppc/ppc4xx_devs.c
index d89008a2a4..3376c43ff5 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/ppc4xx_devs.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/ppc4xx_devs.c
@@ -666,24 +666,24 @@ void ppc4xx_sdram_init (CPUPPCState *env, qemu_irq irq, int nbanks,
         sdram_map_bcr(sdram);
 }
 
-/* Fill in consecutive SDRAM banks with 'ram_size' bytes of memory.
+/*
+ * Split RAM between SDRAM banks.
  *
  * sdram_bank_sizes[] must be in descending order, that is sizes[i] > sizes[i+1]
  * and must be 0-terminated.
  *
  * The 4xx SDRAM controller supports a small number of banks, and each bank
  * must be one of a small set of sizes. The number of banks and the supported
- * sizes varies by SoC. */
-void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(ram_addr_t ram_size, int nr_banks,
+ * sizes varies by SoC.
+ */
+void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(MemoryRegion *ram, int nr_banks,
                         MemoryRegion ram_memories[],
                         hwaddr ram_bases[], hwaddr ram_sizes[],
                         const ram_addr_t sdram_bank_sizes[])
 {
-    MemoryRegion *ram = g_malloc0(sizeof(*ram));
-    ram_addr_t size_left = ram_size;
+    ram_addr_t size_left = memory_region_size(ram);
     ram_addr_t base = 0;
     ram_addr_t bank_size;
-    int last_bank = 0;
     int i;
     int j;
 
@@ -691,11 +691,15 @@ void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(ram_addr_t ram_size, int nr_banks,
         for (j = 0; sdram_bank_sizes[j] != 0; j++) {
             bank_size = sdram_bank_sizes[j];
             if (bank_size <= size_left) {
+                char name[32];
+
                 ram_bases[i] = base;
                 ram_sizes[i] = bank_size;
                 base += bank_size;
                 size_left -= bank_size;
-                last_bank = i;
+                snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "ppc4xx.sdram%d", i);
+                memory_region_init_alias(&ram_memories[i], NULL, name, ram,
+                                         ram_bases[i], ram_sizes[i]);
                 break;
             }
         }
@@ -706,7 +710,7 @@ void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(ram_addr_t ram_size, int nr_banks,
     }
 
     if (size_left) {
-        ram_addr_t used_size = ram_size - size_left;
+        ram_addr_t used_size = memory_region_size(ram) - size_left;
         GString *s = g_string_new(NULL);
 
         for (i = 0; sdram_bank_sizes[i]; i++) {
@@ -722,15 +726,6 @@ void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(ram_addr_t ram_size, int nr_banks,
         g_string_free(s, true);
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
-
-    memory_region_allocate_system_memory(ram, NULL, "ppc4xx.sdram", ram_size);
-
-    for (i = 0; i <= last_bank; i++) {
-        char name[32];
-        snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "ppc4xx.sdram%d", i);
-        memory_region_init_alias(&ram_memories[i], NULL, name, ram,
-                                 ram_bases[i], ram_sizes[i]);
-    }
 }
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
diff --git a/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c b/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
index 17d40bd672..898453cf30 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/sam460ex.c
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ static void sam460ex_init(MachineState *machine)
     /* SDRAM controller */
     /* put all RAM on first bank because board has one slot
      * and firmware only checks that */
-    ppc4xx_sdram_banks(machine->ram_size, 1, ram_memories, ram_bases, ram_sizes,
+    ppc4xx_sdram_banks(machine->ram, 1, ram_memories, ram_bases, ram_sizes,
                        ppc460ex_sdram_bank_sizes);
 
     /* FIXME: does 460EX have ECC interrupts? */
@@ -484,6 +484,7 @@ static void sam460ex_machine_init(MachineClass *mc)
     mc->init = sam460ex_init;
     mc->default_cpu_type = POWERPC_CPU_TYPE_NAME("460exb");
     mc->default_ram_size = 512 * MiB;
+    mc->default_ram_id = "ppc4xx.sdram";
 }
 
 DEFINE_MACHINE("sam460ex", sam460ex_machine_init)
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/ppc4xx.h b/include/hw/ppc/ppc4xx.h
index b8c8f324b4..cc19c8da5b 100644
--- a/include/hw/ppc/ppc4xx.h
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/ppc4xx.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ enum {
 qemu_irq *ppcuic_init (CPUPPCState *env, qemu_irq *irqs,
                        uint32_t dcr_base, int has_ssr, int has_vr);
 
-void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(ram_addr_t ram_size, int nr_banks,
+void ppc4xx_sdram_banks(MemoryRegion *ram, int nr_banks,
                         MemoryRegion ram_memories[],
                         hwaddr ram_bases[], hwaddr ram_sizes[],
                         const ram_addr_t sdram_bank_sizes[]);