diff --git a/arch_init.c b/arch_init.c
index 9a35aeea30..4008115e35 100644
--- a/arch_init.c
+++ b/arch_init.c
@@ -112,6 +112,24 @@ const uint32_t arch_type = QEMU_ARCH;
 #define ALL_EQ(v1, v2) ((v1) == (v2))
 #endif
 
+
+int qemu_read_default_config_files(void)
+{
+    int ret;
+    
+    ret = qemu_read_config_file(CONFIG_QEMU_CONFDIR "/qemu.conf");
+    if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT) {
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    ret = qemu_read_config_file(arch_config_name);
+    if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT) {
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static int is_dup_page(uint8_t *page)
 {
     VECTYPE *p = (VECTYPE *)page;
diff --git a/qemu-config.h b/qemu-config.h
index 20d707fa1f..ff934a1eda 100644
--- a/qemu-config.h
+++ b/qemu-config.h
@@ -16,4 +16,8 @@ int qemu_config_parse(FILE *fp, QemuOptsList **lists, const char *fname);
 
 int qemu_read_config_file(const char *filename);
 
+/* Read default Qemu config files
+ */
+int qemu_read_default_config_files(void);
+
 #endif /* QEMU_CONFIG_H */
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 5e0080b98f..5d1d0f9993 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2358,14 +2358,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     if (defconfig) {
         int ret;
-
-        ret = qemu_read_config_file(CONFIG_QEMU_CONFDIR "/qemu.conf");
-        if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT) {
-            exit(1);
-        }
-
-        ret = qemu_read_config_file(arch_config_name);
-        if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENOENT) {
+        ret = qemu_read_default_config_files();
+        if (ret < 0) {
             exit(1);
         }
     }