diff --git a/cpus-common.c b/cpus-common.c
index 70a9d12..8f5512b 100644
--- a/cpus-common.c
+++ b/cpus-common.c
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
 }
 
 struct qemu_work_item {
-    struct qemu_work_item *next;
+    QSIMPLEQ_ENTRY(qemu_work_item) node;
     run_on_cpu_func func;
     run_on_cpu_data data;
     bool free, exclusive, done;
@@ -106,13 +106,7 @@
 static void queue_work_on_cpu(CPUState *cpu, struct qemu_work_item *wi)
 {
     qemu_mutex_lock(&cpu->work_mutex);
-    if (cpu->queued_work_first == NULL) {
-        cpu->queued_work_first = wi;
-    } else {
-        cpu->queued_work_last->next = wi;
-    }
-    cpu->queued_work_last = wi;
-    wi->next = NULL;
+    QSIMPLEQ_INSERT_TAIL(&cpu->work_list, wi, node);
     wi->done = false;
     qemu_mutex_unlock(&cpu->work_mutex);
 
@@ -306,17 +300,14 @@
 {
     struct qemu_work_item *wi;
 
-    if (cpu->queued_work_first == NULL) {
+    qemu_mutex_lock(&cpu->work_mutex);
+    if (QSIMPLEQ_EMPTY(&cpu->work_list)) {
+        qemu_mutex_unlock(&cpu->work_mutex);
         return;
     }
-
-    qemu_mutex_lock(&cpu->work_mutex);
-    while (cpu->queued_work_first != NULL) {
-        wi = cpu->queued_work_first;
-        cpu->queued_work_first = wi->next;
-        if (!cpu->queued_work_first) {
-            cpu->queued_work_last = NULL;
-        }
+    while (!QSIMPLEQ_EMPTY(&cpu->work_list)) {
+        wi = QSIMPLEQ_FIRST(&cpu->work_list);
+        QSIMPLEQ_REMOVE_HEAD(&cpu->work_list, node);
         qemu_mutex_unlock(&cpu->work_mutex);
         if (wi->exclusive) {
             /* Running work items outside the BQL avoids the following deadlock: