diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 1740a4f..6e26d2e 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2031,7 +2031,7 @@
 F: include/sysemu/runstate.h
 F: util/main-loop.c
 F: util/qemu-timer.c
-F: vl.c
+F: softmmu/vl.c
 F: qapi/run-state.json
 
 Human Monitor (HMP)
diff --git a/Makefile.objs b/Makefile.objs
index 26b9cff..8a1cbe8 100644
--- a/Makefile.objs
+++ b/Makefile.objs
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@
 common-obj-m += ui/
 
 common-obj-y += dma-helpers.o
-common-obj-y += vl.o
-vl.o-cflags := $(GPROF_CFLAGS) $(SDL_CFLAGS)
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_TPM) += tpm.o
 
 common-obj-y += backends/
diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index 6e61f60..06c36d1 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@
 obj-y += memory.o
 obj-y += memory_mapping.o
 obj-y += migration/ram.o
+obj-y += softmmu/
 LIBS := $(libs_softmmu) $(LIBS)
 
 # Hardware support
diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 11512a8..b27e4ff 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@
 	my @tree_check = (
 		"COPYING", "MAINTAINERS", "Makefile",
 		"README.rst", "docs", "VERSION",
-		"vl.c"
+		"linux-user", "softmmu"
 	);
 
 	foreach my $check (@tree_check) {
diff --git a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
index 27991eb..271f5ff 100755
--- a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
+++ b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
@@ -795,7 +795,8 @@
         && (-f "${lk_path}Makefile")
         && (-d "${lk_path}docs")
         && (-f "${lk_path}VERSION")
-        && (-f "${lk_path}vl.c")) {
+        && (-d "${lk_path}linux-user/")
+        && (-d "${lk_path}softmmu/")) {
 	return 1;
     }
     return 0;
diff --git a/softmmu/Makefile.objs b/softmmu/Makefile.objs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d80a5ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/softmmu/Makefile.objs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+obj-y += vl.o
+vl.o-cflags := $(GPROF_CFLAGS) $(SDL_CFLAGS)
diff --git a/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
similarity index 100%
rename from vl.c
rename to softmmu/vl.c