diff --git a/ports/powerpc/Makefile b/ports/powerpc/Makefile
index 5f17a93557..1f5ec80d43 100644
--- a/ports/powerpc/Makefile
+++ b/ports/powerpc/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ QSTR_DEFS = qstrdefsport.h
 # include py core make definitions
 include $(TOP)/py/py.mk
 
+# potato or lpc_serial
+UART ?= potato
+
 ARCH = $(shell uname -m)
 ifneq ("$(ARCH)", "ppc64")
 ifneq ("$(ARCH)", "ppc64le")
@@ -30,9 +33,7 @@ LIBS =
 
 SRC_C = \
 	main.c \
-	uart_core.c \
-	uart_potato.c \
-	uart_lpc_serial.c \
+	uart_$(UART).c \
 	lib/utils/printf.c \
 	lib/utils/stdout_helpers.c \
 	lib/utils/pyexec.c \
diff --git a/ports/powerpc/README.md b/ports/powerpc/README.md
index 862bfcd3c5..631924c7c0 100644
--- a/ports/powerpc/README.md
+++ b/ports/powerpc/README.md
@@ -6,10 +6,14 @@ potato UART.
 
 ## Building
 
-By default the port will be built for the host machine:
+By default the port will be built with the potato uart for microwatt:
 
     $ make
 
+To instead build for a machine with LPC serial, such as QEMU powernv:
+
+    $ make UART=lpc_serial
+
 ## Cross compilation for POWERPC
 
 If you need to cross compilers you'll want to grab a powerpc64le
diff --git a/ports/powerpc/main.c b/ports/powerpc/main.c
index 421f9be714..fdeec13abe 100644
--- a/ports/powerpc/main.c
+++ b/ports/powerpc/main.c
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     int stack_dummy;
     stack_top = (char *)&stack_dummy;
 
-    // microwatt has argc/r3 = 0 whereas QEMU has r3 set in head.S
     uart_init_ppc(argc);
 
     #if MICROPY_ENABLE_PYSTACK
diff --git a/ports/powerpc/uart_core.c b/ports/powerpc/uart_core.c
deleted file mode 100644
index b0dcd031a5..0000000000
--- a/ports/powerpc/uart_core.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * This file is part of the MicroPython project, http://micropython.org/
- *
- * The MIT License (MIT)
- *
- * Copyright (c) 2019, Michael Neuling, IBM Corporation.
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
- * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
- * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
- * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
- * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
- * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
- * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
- * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
- * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
- * THE SOFTWARE.
- */
-
-#include <unistd.h>
-#include <stdbool.h>
-
-#include "py/mpconfig.h"
-#include "uart_potato.h"
-#include "uart_lpc_serial.h"
-
-static int lpc_console;
-static int potato_console;
-
-void uart_init_ppc(int lpc) {
-    lpc_console = lpc;
-
-    if (!lpc_console) {
-        potato_console = 1;
-
-        potato_uart_init();
-    } else {
-        lpc_uart_init();
-    }
-}
-
-// Receive single character
-int mp_hal_stdin_rx_chr(void) {
-    unsigned char c = 0;
-    if (lpc_console) {
-        c = lpc_uart_read();
-    } else if (potato_console) {
-        c = potato_uart_read();
-    }
-    return c;
-}
-
-// Send string of given length
-void mp_hal_stdout_tx_strn(const char *str, mp_uint_t len) {
-    if (lpc_console) {
-        int i;
-        for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-            lpc_uart_write(str[i]);
-        }
-    } else if (potato_console) {
-        int i;
-        for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-            potato_uart_write(str[i]);
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/ports/powerpc/uart_lpc_serial.c b/ports/powerpc/uart_lpc_serial.c
index c15fc049b9..760615041c 100644
--- a/ports/powerpc/uart_lpc_serial.c
+++ b/ports/powerpc/uart_lpc_serial.c
@@ -96,20 +96,24 @@ static int lpc_uart_rx_empty(void) {
     return !(lpc_uart_reg_read(REG_LSR) & LSR_DR);
 }
 
-void lpc_uart_init(void) {
+void uart_init_ppc(void) {
     lpc_uart_base = LPC_UART_BASE;
 }
 
-char lpc_uart_read(void) {
+int mp_hal_stdin_rx_chr(void) {
     while (lpc_uart_rx_empty()) {
         ;
     }
     return lpc_uart_reg_read(REG_THR);
 }
 
-void lpc_uart_write(char c) {
-    while (lpc_uart_tx_full()) {
-        ;
+
+void mp_hal_stdout_tx_strn(const char *str, mp_uint_t len) {
+    int i;
+    for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+        while (lpc_uart_tx_full()) {
+            ;
+        }
+        lpc_uart_reg_write(REG_RBR, str[i]);
     }
-    lpc_uart_reg_write(REG_RBR, c);
 }
diff --git a/ports/powerpc/uart_potato.c b/ports/powerpc/uart_potato.c
index 4a487f3032..29f21934dd 100644
--- a/ports/powerpc/uart_potato.c
+++ b/ports/powerpc/uart_potato.c
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include "py/mpconfig.h"
 
-#define PROC_FREQ                           50000000
+#define SYSCON_BASE     0xc0000000  /* System control regs */
+#define SYS_REG_CLKINFO                 0x20
+
 #define UART_FREQ                           115200
 #define POTATO_UART_BASE                    0xc0002000
-uint64_t potato_uart_base;
+static uint64_t potato_uart_base;
 
 #define POTATO_CONSOLE_TX                   0x00
 #define POTATO_CONSOLE_RX                   0x08
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ static uint64_t potato_uart_reg_read(int offset) {
     return val;
 }
 
-void potato_uart_reg_write(int offset, uint64_t val) {
+static void potato_uart_reg_write(int offset, uint64_t val) {
     uint64_t addr;
 
     addr = potato_uart_base + offset;
@@ -96,13 +98,16 @@ static unsigned long potato_uart_divisor(unsigned long proc_freq, unsigned long
     return proc_freq / (uart_freq * 16) - 1;
 }
 
-void potato_uart_init(void) {
+void uart_init_ppc(void) {
+    uint64_t proc_freq;
+
     potato_uart_base = POTATO_UART_BASE;
-    potato_uart_reg_write(POTATO_CONSOLE_CLOCK_DIV, potato_uart_divisor(PROC_FREQ, UART_FREQ));
+    proc_freq = *(volatile uint64_t *)(SYSCON_BASE + SYS_REG_CLKINFO);
+    potato_uart_reg_write(POTATO_CONSOLE_CLOCK_DIV, potato_uart_divisor(proc_freq, UART_FREQ));
 
 }
 
-char potato_uart_read(void) {
+int mp_hal_stdin_rx_chr(void) {
     uint64_t val;
 
     while (potato_uart_rx_empty()) {
@@ -113,13 +118,15 @@ char potato_uart_read(void) {
     return (char)(val & 0x000000ff);
 }
 
-void potato_uart_write(char c) {
-    uint64_t val;
+void mp_hal_stdout_tx_strn(const char *str, mp_uint_t len) {
+    int i;
 
-    val = c;
+    for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+        uint64_t val = str[i];
 
-    while (potato_uart_tx_full()) {
-        ;
+        while (potato_uart_tx_full()) {
+            ;
+        }
+        potato_uart_reg_write(POTATO_CONSOLE_TX, val);
     }
-    potato_uart_reg_write(POTATO_CONSOLE_TX, val);
 }