diff --git a/include/ui/console.h b/include/ui/console.h
index 6e5a867fec..2f5b9f0634 100644
--- a/include/ui/console.h
+++ b/include/ui/console.h
@@ -332,7 +332,6 @@ void vnc_display_init(const char *id);
 void vnc_display_open(const char *id, Error **errp);
 void vnc_display_add_client(const char *id, int csock, bool skipauth);
 char *vnc_display_local_addr(const char *id);
-void vnc_auto_assign_id(QemuOptsList *olist, QemuOpts *opts);
 #ifdef CONFIG_VNC
 int vnc_display_password(const char *id, const char *password);
 int vnc_display_pw_expire(const char *id, time_t expires);
diff --git a/qmp.c b/qmp.c
index d701cff5ac..c479e7751c 100644
--- a/qmp.c
+++ b/qmp.c
@@ -391,7 +391,6 @@ static void qmp_change_vnc_listen(const char *target, Error **errp)
         return;
     }
 
-    vnc_auto_assign_id(olist, opts);
     vnc_display_open("default", errp);
 }
 
diff --git a/ui/vnc-ws.c b/ui/vnc-ws.c
index e304bafeb0..d75950d7b1 100644
--- a/ui/vnc-ws.c
+++ b/ui/vnc-ws.c
@@ -207,8 +207,7 @@ static void vncws_send_handshake_response(VncState *vs, const char* key)
     }
 
     response = g_strdup_printf(WS_HANDSHAKE, accept);
-    vnc_write(vs, response, strlen(response));
-    vnc_flush(vs);
+    vnc_client_write_buf(vs, (const uint8_t *)response, strlen(response));
 
     g_free(accept);
     g_free(response);
diff --git a/ui/vnc.c b/ui/vnc.c
index 10a272450b..ff0b5bda9b 100644
--- a/ui/vnc.c
+++ b/ui/vnc.c
@@ -3687,12 +3687,7 @@ void vnc_display_add_client(const char *id, int csock, bool skipauth)
     vnc_connect(vs, csock, skipauth, false);
 }
 
-QemuOpts *vnc_parse_func(const char *str)
-{
-    return qemu_opts_parse(qemu_find_opts("vnc"), str, 1);
-}
-
-void vnc_auto_assign_id(QemuOptsList *olist, QemuOpts *opts)
+static void vnc_auto_assign_id(QemuOptsList *olist, QemuOpts *opts)
 {
     int i = 2;
     char *id;
@@ -3705,18 +3700,25 @@ void vnc_auto_assign_id(QemuOptsList *olist, QemuOpts *opts)
     qemu_opts_set_id(opts, id);
 }
 
-int vnc_init_func(QemuOpts *opts, void *opaque)
+QemuOpts *vnc_parse_func(const char *str)
 {
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
     QemuOptsList *olist = qemu_find_opts("vnc");
-    char *id = (char *)qemu_opts_id(opts);
+    QemuOpts *opts = qemu_opts_parse(olist, str, 1);
+    const char *id = qemu_opts_id(opts);
 
     if (!id) {
         /* auto-assign id if not present */
         vnc_auto_assign_id(olist, opts);
-        id = (char *)qemu_opts_id(opts);
     }
+    return opts;
+}
 
+int vnc_init_func(QemuOpts *opts, void *opaque)
+{
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    char *id = (char *)qemu_opts_id(opts);
+
+    assert(id);
     vnc_display_init(id);
     vnc_display_open(id, &local_err);
     if (local_err != NULL) {
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index b47e223a49..eba5d4c99b 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2001,7 +2001,6 @@ static DisplayType select_display(const char *p)
     } else if (strstart(p, "vnc", &opts)) {
 #ifdef CONFIG_VNC
         if (*opts == '=') {
-            display_remote++;
             if (vnc_parse_func(opts+1) == NULL) {
                 exit(1);
             }
@@ -3477,7 +3476,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_vnc:
 #ifdef CONFIG_VNC
-                display_remote++;
                 if (vnc_parse_func(optarg) == NULL) {
                     exit(1);
                 }
@@ -3970,6 +3968,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         }
     }
 
+#if defined(CONFIG_VNC)
+    if (!QTAILQ_EMPTY(&(qemu_find_opts("vnc")->head))) {
+        display_remote++;
+    }
+#endif
     if (display_type == DT_DEFAULT && !display_remote) {
 #if defined(CONFIG_GTK)
         display_type = DT_GTK;