diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index b230314f7f..4d29313f45 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -5956,18 +5956,6 @@ qemuBuildVMGenIDCommandLine(virCommand *cmd,
 }
 
 
-static int
-qemuBuildSgaCommandLine(virCommand *cmd,
-                        const virDomainDef *def)
-{
-    /* Serial graphics adapter */
-    if (def->os.bios.useserial == VIR_TRISTATE_BOOL_YES)
-        virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "-device", "sga", NULL);
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
-
 static char *
 qemuBuildClockArgStr(virDomainClockDef *def)
 {
@@ -7054,6 +7042,16 @@ qemuBuildMachineCommandLine(virCommand *cmd,
             virBufferAsprintf(&buf, ",memory-backend=%s", defaultRAMid);
     }
 
+    /* On x86 targets, graphics=off activates the serial console
+     * output mode in the firmware. On non-x86 targets it has
+     * various other undesirable effects that we certainly do
+     * not want to have. We rely on the validation code to have
+     * blocked useserial=yes on non-x86
+     */
+    if (def->os.bios.useserial == VIR_TRISTATE_BOOL_YES) {
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, ",graphics=off");
+    }
+
     virCommandAddArgBuffer(cmd, &buf);
 
     return 0;
@@ -10553,9 +10551,6 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriver *driver,
     virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-no-user-config");
     virCommandAddArg(cmd, "-nodefaults");
 
-    if (qemuBuildSgaCommandLine(cmd, def) < 0)
-        return NULL;
-
     if (qemuBuildMonitorCommandLine(logManager, secManager, cmd, cfg, def, priv) < 0)
         return NULL;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
index 47012748e8..9d93f373ab 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_validate.c
@@ -1194,19 +1194,18 @@ qemuValidateDomainDef(const virDomainDef *def,
 
     /* Serial graphics adapter */
     if (def->os.bios.useserial == VIR_TRISTATE_BOOL_YES) {
-        /* -device sga is only sane on x86, since the option ROM it
-         * loads contains x86 machine code.
+        /* On x86 -machine graphics=off toggles the use of the
+         * serial console in SeaBIOS (and theoretically other
+         * firmwares).
+         * On non-x86, it has also sorts of other effects
+         * on QEMU device models created and so we don't
+         * want to allow its use.
          */
         if (!ARCH_IS_X86(def->os.arch)) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
                            _("BIOS serial console only supported on x86 architectures"));
             return -1;
         }
-        if (!virQEMUCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_SGA)) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                           _("qemu does not support SGA"));
-            return -1;
-        }
         if (!def->nserials) {
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR, "%s",
                            _("need at least one serial port to use BIOS serial output"));
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/bios.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/bios.args
index 7356d1626d..7d831a716d 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/bios.args
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/bios.args
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
 /usr/bin/qemu-system-i386 \
 -name guest=test-bios,debug-threads=on \
 -S \
--machine pc,accel=tcg,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off \
+-machine pc,accel=tcg,usb=off,dump-guest-core=off,graphics=off \
 -bios /usr/share/seabios/bios.bin \
 -m 1024 \
 -realtime mlock=off \
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none \
 -display none \
 -no-user-config \
 -nodefaults \
--device sga \
 -chardev socket,id=charmonitor,path=/tmp/lib/domain--1-test-bios/monitor.sock,server=on,wait=off \
 -mon chardev=charmonitor,id=monitor,mode=control \
 -rtc base=utc \
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index c67214d01e..4d82267598 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -1192,8 +1192,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR_NOCAPS("reboot-timeout-enabled");
 
     DO_TEST("bios",
-            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_ISA_SERIAL,
-            QEMU_CAPS_SGA);
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_ISA_SERIAL);
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("bios-nvram");
     DO_TEST("bios-nvram-secure",
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE_DMI_TO_PCI_BRIDGE,