diff --git a/hw/e1000.c b/hw/e1000.c
index de2c7009b30d7b05eca3ea1d303b63cc3348c28f..bb150c67dc9cdbc08630fcb1de456646d414e570 100644
--- a/hw/e1000.c
+++ b/hw/e1000.c
@@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ pci_e1000_uninit(PCIDevice *dev)
     qemu_free_timer(d->autoneg_timer);
     memory_region_destroy(&d->mmio);
     memory_region_destroy(&d->io);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(d->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(d->nic);
 }
 
 static NetClientInfo net_e1000_info = {
diff --git a/hw/eepro100.c b/hw/eepro100.c
index f9856ae8c67a38ab5eccbac412cdf52994402606..5d237968e74c890f719a38214f3120a82ee73cc8 100644
--- a/hw/eepro100.c
+++ b/hw/eepro100.c
@@ -1849,7 +1849,7 @@ static void pci_nic_uninit(PCIDevice *pci_dev)
     memory_region_destroy(&s->flash_bar);
     vmstate_unregister(&pci_dev->qdev, s->vmstate, s);
     eeprom93xx_free(&pci_dev->qdev, s->eeprom);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(s->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(s->nic);
 }
 
 static NetClientInfo net_eepro100_info = {
diff --git a/hw/ne2000.c b/hw/ne2000.c
index c989190c0eb8576a3e00ebe0bfd27f2db0a781b8..3dd1c844e835816ddac2618bae7e60beb4206f2e 100644
--- a/hw/ne2000.c
+++ b/hw/ne2000.c
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ static void pci_ne2000_exit(PCIDevice *pci_dev)
     NE2000State *s = &d->ne2000;
 
     memory_region_destroy(&s->io);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(s->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(s->nic);
 }
 
 static Property ne2000_properties[] = {
diff --git a/hw/pcnet-pci.c b/hw/pcnet-pci.c
index 26c90bf3720ea3f9c6cb088b207bc8cf60de1af7..df63b2246319e4d9cc223816bf8a873dcd87ad88 100644
--- a/hw/pcnet-pci.c
+++ b/hw/pcnet-pci.c
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ static void pci_pcnet_uninit(PCIDevice *dev)
     memory_region_destroy(&d->io_bar);
     qemu_del_timer(d->state.poll_timer);
     qemu_free_timer(d->state.poll_timer);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(d->state.nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(d->state.nic);
 }
 
 static NetClientInfo net_pci_pcnet_info = {
diff --git a/hw/rtl8139.c b/hw/rtl8139.c
index b825e83f0b1f1afcf0e016bd83af8f29439c6b33..d7716beb9e689a7dc787c947e330cc061afdd144 100644
--- a/hw/rtl8139.c
+++ b/hw/rtl8139.c
@@ -3446,7 +3446,7 @@ static void pci_rtl8139_uninit(PCIDevice *dev)
     }
     qemu_del_timer(s->timer);
     qemu_free_timer(s->timer);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(s->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(s->nic);
 }
 
 static void rtl8139_set_link_status(NetClientState *nc)
diff --git a/hw/usb/dev-network.c b/hw/usb/dev-network.c
index abc6eac591e32b965041930178fd93a5f52b794f..a01a5e793a7733d1691c3fe8169d554ef74b6d39 100644
--- a/hw/usb/dev-network.c
+++ b/hw/usb/dev-network.c
@@ -1330,7 +1330,7 @@ static void usb_net_handle_destroy(USBDevice *dev)
 
     /* TODO: remove the nd_table[] entry */
     rndis_clear_responsequeue(s);
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(s->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(s->nic);
 }
 
 static NetClientInfo net_usbnet_info = {
diff --git a/hw/virtio-net.c b/hw/virtio-net.c
index e69313b3819a539a87073a19c5faa13dea1a2165..a967006cfc4f9decd2e8e9b746f30c3d7ac6827d 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-net.c
@@ -1157,6 +1157,6 @@ void virtio_net_exit(VirtIODevice *vdev)
         qemu_bh_delete(n->tx_bh);
     }
 
-    qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(n->nic));
+    qemu_del_nic(n->nic);
     virtio_cleanup(&n->vdev);
 }
diff --git a/hw/xen_nic.c b/hw/xen_nic.c
index 55b79606d49f7a727972391b6971f4d94624e9c3..4be077d3204f6ddb9f62e2e7abf7448bd7690b79 100644
--- a/hw/xen_nic.c
+++ b/hw/xen_nic.c
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ static void net_disconnect(struct XenDevice *xendev)
         netdev->rxs = NULL;
     }
     if (netdev->nic) {
-        qemu_del_net_client(qemu_get_queue(netdev->nic));
+        qemu_del_nic(netdev->nic);
         netdev->nic = NULL;
     }
 }
diff --git a/include/net/net.h b/include/net/net.h
index 96e05c4117ba30789a4436da78c3bb237b47bf01..f0d1aa21173b8d4f81a4c8b869a3456e0de92019 100644
--- a/include/net/net.h
+++ b/include/net/net.h
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ NICState *qemu_new_nic(NetClientInfo *info,
                        const char *model,
                        const char *name,
                        void *opaque);
+void qemu_del_nic(NICState *nic);
 NetClientState *qemu_get_queue(NICState *nic);
 NICState *qemu_get_nic(NetClientState *nc);
 void *qemu_get_nic_opaque(NetClientState *nc);
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 606e8606de6cce2ea47a4217fc707326ae6a1408..47d56e3a143ddb8adda5f1595b62a5b30129f835 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -291,6 +291,15 @@ void qemu_del_net_client(NetClientState *nc)
         return;
     }
 
+    assert(nc->info->type != NET_CLIENT_OPTIONS_KIND_NIC);
+
+    qemu_cleanup_net_client(nc);
+    qemu_free_net_client(nc);
+}
+
+void qemu_del_nic(NICState *nic)
+{
+    NetClientState *nc = qemu_get_queue(nic);
     /* If this is a peer NIC and peer has already been deleted, free it now. */
     if (nc->peer && nc->info->type == NET_CLIENT_OPTIONS_KIND_NIC) {
         NICState *nic = qemu_get_nic(nc);
@@ -931,7 +940,11 @@ void net_cleanup(void)
     NetClientState *nc, *next_vc;
 
     QTAILQ_FOREACH_SAFE(nc, &net_clients, next, next_vc) {
-        qemu_del_net_client(nc);
+        if (nc->info->type == NET_CLIENT_OPTIONS_KIND_NIC) {
+            qemu_del_nic(qemu_get_nic(nc));
+        } else {
+            qemu_del_net_client(nc);
+        }
     }
 }