diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 6614bbdae1..5b7e97e6de 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4844,6 +4844,8 @@ static int drive_init(const char *str, int snapshot, QEMUMachine *machine)
 {
     char buf[128];
     char file[1024];
+    char devname[128];
+    const char *mediastr = "";
     BlockInterfaceType interface;
     enum { MEDIA_DISK, MEDIA_CDROM } media;
     int bus_id, unit_id;
@@ -4875,9 +4877,11 @@ static int drive_init(const char *str, int snapshot, QEMUMachine *machine)
         !strcmp(machine->name, "versatileab")) {
         interface = IF_SCSI;
         max_devs = MAX_SCSI_DEVS;
+        strcpy(devname, "scsi");
     } else {
         interface = IF_IDE;
         max_devs = MAX_IDE_DEVS;
+        strcpy(devname, "ide");
     }
     media = MEDIA_DISK;
 
@@ -4900,6 +4904,7 @@ static int drive_init(const char *str, int snapshot, QEMUMachine *machine)
     }
 
     if (get_param_value(buf, sizeof(buf), "if", str)) {
+        strncpy(devname, buf, sizeof(devname));
         if (!strcmp(buf, "ide")) {
 	    interface = IF_IDE;
             max_devs = MAX_IDE_DEVS;
@@ -5057,7 +5062,10 @@ static int drive_init(const char *str, int snapshot, QEMUMachine *machine)
 
     /* init */
 
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "drive%d", nb_drives);
+    if (interface == IF_IDE || interface == IF_SCSI)
+        mediastr = (media == MEDIA_CDROM) ? "-cd" : "-hd";
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), max_devs ? "%1$s%4$i%2$s%3$i" : "%s%s%i",
+             devname, mediastr, unit_id, bus_id);
     bdrv = bdrv_new(buf);
     drives_table[nb_drives].bdrv = bdrv;
     drives_table[nb_drives].interface = interface;