diff --git a/src/cpu/o3/fetch.hh b/src/cpu/o3/fetch.hh
index 3ada0328f..d954bd1e7 100644
--- a/src/cpu/o3/fetch.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/o3/fetch.hh
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ class DefaultFetch
 
       public:
         /** Default constructor. */
-        IcachePort(DefaultFetch<Impl> *_fetch, O3CPU *_cpu)
-            : Port(_fetch->name() + "-iport", _cpu), fetch(_fetch)
+        IcachePort(DefaultFetch<Impl> *_fetch)
+            : Port(_fetch->name() + "-iport"), fetch(_fetch)
         { }
 
         bool snoopRangeSent;
diff --git a/src/cpu/o3/fetch_impl.hh b/src/cpu/o3/fetch_impl.hh
index ecfbacd98..7d344fa33 100644
--- a/src/cpu/o3/fetch_impl.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/o3/fetch_impl.hh
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ DefaultFetch<Impl>::DefaultFetch(O3CPU *_cpu, Params *params)
     instSize = sizeof(TheISA::MachInst);
 
     // Name is finally available, so create the port.
-    icachePort = new IcachePort(this, cpu);
+    icachePort = new IcachePort(this);
 
     icachePort->snoopRangeSent = false;
 
diff --git a/src/cpu/o3/lsq.hh b/src/cpu/o3/lsq.hh
index 82d73c6ee..06de608e0 100644
--- a/src/cpu/o3/lsq.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/o3/lsq.hh
@@ -296,8 +296,8 @@ class LSQ {
 
       public:
         /** Default constructor. */
-        DcachePort(LSQ *_lsq, O3CPU *_cpu)
-            : Port(_lsq->name() + "-dport", _cpu), lsq(_lsq)
+        DcachePort(LSQ *_lsq)
+            : Port(_lsq->name() + "-dport"), lsq(_lsq)
         { }
 
         bool snoopRangeSent;
diff --git a/src/cpu/o3/lsq_impl.hh b/src/cpu/o3/lsq_impl.hh
index 41ab66dd0..8ed6f7f54 100644
--- a/src/cpu/o3/lsq_impl.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/o3/lsq_impl.hh
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ LSQ<Impl>::DcachePort::recvRetry()
 
 template <class Impl>
 LSQ<Impl>::LSQ(O3CPU *cpu_ptr, IEW *iew_ptr, Params *params)
-    : cpu(cpu_ptr), iewStage(iew_ptr), dcachePort(this, cpu_ptr),
+    : cpu(cpu_ptr), iewStage(iew_ptr), dcachePort(this),
       LQEntries(params->LQEntries),
       SQEntries(params->SQEntries),
       numThreads(params->numberOfThreads),
diff --git a/src/cpu/o3/thread_context_impl.hh b/src/cpu/o3/thread_context_impl.hh
index 514d3de64..865d58635 100755
--- a/src/cpu/o3/thread_context_impl.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/o3/thread_context_impl.hh
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ void
 O3ThreadContext<Impl>::delVirtPort(VirtualPort *vp)
 {
     if (vp != thread->getVirtPort()) {
+        vp->removeConn();
         delete vp;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/cpu/ozone/cpu_impl.hh b/src/cpu/ozone/cpu_impl.hh
index 4cb55fa23..0c7105382 100644
--- a/src/cpu/ozone/cpu_impl.hh
+++ b/src/cpu/ozone/cpu_impl.hh
@@ -747,6 +747,7 @@ template <class Impl>
 void
 OzoneCPU<Impl>::OzoneTC::delVirtPort(VirtualPort *vp)
 {
+    vp->removeConn();
     delete vp;
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/cpu/simple_thread.cc b/src/cpu/simple_thread.cc
index 47b69d05f..5a5444de4 100644
--- a/src/cpu/simple_thread.cc
+++ b/src/cpu/simple_thread.cc
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ void
 SimpleThread::delVirtPort(VirtualPort *vp)
 {
     if (vp != virtPort) {
+        vp->removeConn();
         delete vp;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/cpu/thread_state.cc b/src/cpu/thread_state.cc
index 56839ca7f..bcfc9c924 100644
--- a/src/cpu/thread_state.cc
+++ b/src/cpu/thread_state.cc
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ ThreadState::connectPhysPort()
     // already existed.  Fix this memory leak once the bus port IDs
     // for functional ports is resolved.
     if (physPort)
-        physPort->disconnectFromPeer();
+        physPort->removeConn();
     else
         physPort = new FunctionalPort(csprintf("%s-%d-funcport",
                                            baseCpu->name(), tid));
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ ThreadState::connectVirtPort()
     // already existed.  Fix this memory leak once the bus port IDs
     // for functional ports is resolved.
     if (virtPort)
-        virtPort->disconnectFromPeer();
+        virtPort->removeConn();
     else
         virtPort = new VirtualPort(csprintf("%s-%d-vport",
                                         baseCpu->name(), tid));
diff --git a/src/mem/bridge.cc b/src/mem/bridge.cc
index 25c6e5d19..c09cacc00 100644
--- a/src/mem/bridge.cc
+++ b/src/mem/bridge.cc
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Bridge::BridgePort::BridgePort(const std::string &_name,
                                int _delay, int _nack_delay, int _req_limit,
                                int _resp_limit,
                                std::vector<Range<Addr> > filter_ranges)
-    : Port(_name, _bridge), bridge(_bridge), otherPort(_otherPort),
+    : Port(_name), bridge(_bridge), otherPort(_otherPort),
       delay(_delay), nackDelay(_nack_delay), filterRanges(filter_ranges),
       outstandingResponses(0), queuedRequests(0), inRetry(false),
       reqQueueLimit(_req_limit), respQueueLimit(_resp_limit), sendEvent(this)
diff --git a/src/mem/bus.cc b/src/mem/bus.cc
index 9dd3353fd..3bf1c6cfc 100644
--- a/src/mem/bus.cc
+++ b/src/mem/bus.cc
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ Bus::getPort(const std::string &if_name, int idx)
     return bp;
 }
 
-bool
-Bus::deletePort(Port *p)
+void
+Bus::deletePortRefs(Port *p)
 {
 
     BusPort *bp =  dynamic_cast<BusPort*>(p);
@@ -81,11 +81,10 @@ Bus::deletePort(Port *p)
         panic("Couldn't convert Port* to BusPort*\n");
     // If this is our one functional port
     if (funcPort == bp)
-        return false;
+        return;
     interfaces.erase(bp->getId());
     clearBusCache();
     delete bp;
-    return true;
 }
 
 /** Get the ranges of anyone other buses that we are connected to. */
diff --git a/src/mem/bus.hh b/src/mem/bus.hh
index 7d476bb65..74901d626 100644
--- a/src/mem/bus.hh
+++ b/src/mem/bus.hh
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ class Bus : public MemObject
 
     /** A function used to return the port associated with this bus object. */
     virtual Port *getPort(const std::string &if_name, int idx = -1);
-    virtual bool deletePort(Port *p);
+    virtual void deletePortRefs(Port *p);
 
     virtual void init();
     virtual void startup();
diff --git a/src/mem/cache/cache.hh b/src/mem/cache/cache.hh
index 56ae811a3..88c9deb7b 100644
--- a/src/mem/cache/cache.hh
+++ b/src/mem/cache/cache.hh
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ class Cache : public BaseCache
     Cache(const Params *p, TagStore *tags, BasePrefetcher *prefetcher);
 
     virtual Port *getPort(const std::string &if_name, int idx = -1);
-    virtual bool deletePort(Port *p);
+    virtual void deletePortRefs(Port *p);
 
     void regStats();
 
diff --git a/src/mem/cache/cache_impl.hh b/src/mem/cache/cache_impl.hh
index a3dae7b2a..3b56c0a2e 100644
--- a/src/mem/cache/cache_impl.hh
+++ b/src/mem/cache/cache_impl.hh
@@ -105,14 +105,13 @@ Cache<TagStore>::getPort(const std::string &if_name, int idx)
 }
 
 template<class TagStore>
-bool
-Cache<TagStore>::deletePort(Port *p)
+void
+Cache<TagStore>::deletePortRefs(Port *p)
 {
     if (cpuSidePort == p || memSidePort == p)
         panic("Can only delete functional ports\n");
 
     delete p;
-    return true;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/mem/mem_object.cc b/src/mem/mem_object.cc
index 7d27db763..ce2a1107e 100644
--- a/src/mem/mem_object.cc
+++ b/src/mem/mem_object.cc
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ MemObject::makeParams(const std::string &name)
     return params;
 }
 
-bool
-MemObject::deletePort(Port *p)
+void
+MemObject::deletePortRefs(Port *p)
 {
     panic("This object does not support port deletion\n");
 }
diff --git a/src/mem/mem_object.hh b/src/mem/mem_object.hh
index a91ea5ac4..33b56dfd4 100644
--- a/src/mem/mem_object.hh
+++ b/src/mem/mem_object.hh
@@ -64,13 +64,9 @@ class MemObject : public SimObject
     /** Additional function to return the Port of a memory object. */
     virtual Port *getPort(const std::string &if_name, int idx = -1) = 0;
 
-    /** Tell MemObject that this port is no longer in use, so it
-     * should remove it from any structures that it's keeping it in.
-     * If the port was allocated dynamically for this connection, it
-     * should be deleted here.
-     * @return True if the port was deleted, false if it still exists.
-     */
-    virtual bool deletePort(Port *p);
+    /** Tell object that this port is about to disappear, so it should remove it
+     * from any structures that it's keeping it in. */
+    virtual void deletePortRefs(Port *p) ;
 };
 
 #endif //__MEM_MEM_OBJECT_HH__
diff --git a/src/mem/port.cc b/src/mem/port.cc
index 1e6989750..0e03194c9 100644
--- a/src/mem/port.cc
+++ b/src/mem/port.cc
@@ -39,25 +39,17 @@
 #include "mem/mem_object.hh"
 #include "mem/port.hh"
 
-/**
- * Special class for port objects that are used as peers for
- * unconnected ports.  Assigning instances of this class to newly
- * allocated ports allows us to guarantee that every port has a peer
- * object (so there's no need to check for null peer pointers), while
- * catching uses of unconnected ports.
- */
 class DefaultPeerPort : public Port
 {
   protected:
     void blowUp()
     {
-        Port *peer = getPeer();
-        fatal("unconnected port: %s", peer ? peer->name() : "<unknown>");
+        fatal("%s: Unconnected port!", peer->name());
     }
 
   public:
-    DefaultPeerPort(Port *_peer)
-        : Port("default_port", NULL, _peer)
+    DefaultPeerPort()
+        : Port("default_port")
     { }
 
     bool recvTiming(PacketPtr)
@@ -96,61 +88,38 @@ class DefaultPeerPort : public Port
     bool isDefaultPort() const { return true; }
 };
 
+DefaultPeerPort defaultPeerPort;
 
-Port::Port(const std::string &_name, MemObject *_owner, Port *_peer) :
-    portName(_name),
-    peer(_peer ? _peer : new DefaultPeerPort(this)),
-    owner(_owner)
+Port::Port()
+    : peer(&defaultPeerPort), owner(NULL)
+{
+}
+
+Port::Port(const std::string &_name, MemObject *_owner)
+    : portName(_name), peer(&defaultPeerPort), owner(_owner)
 {
 }
 
 Port::~Port()
 {
-    disconnectFromPeer();
-}
-
-void
-Port::disconnectFromPeer()
-{
-    if (peer) {
-        assert(peer->getPeer() == this);
-        peer->disconnect();
-    }
-}
-
-void
-Port::disconnect()
-{
-    // This notification should come only from our peer, so we must
-    // have one,
-    assert(peer != NULL);
-    // We must clear 'peer' here, else if owner->deletePort() calls
-    // delete on us then we'll recurse infinitely through the Port
-    // destructor.
-    peer = NULL;
-    // If owner->deletePort() returns true, then we've been deleted,
-    // so don't do anything but get out of here.  If not, reset peer
-    // pointer to a DefaultPeerPort.
-    if (!(owner && owner->deletePort(this)))
-        peer = new DefaultPeerPort(this);
 }
 
 void
 Port::setPeer(Port *port)
 {
-    DPRINTF(Config, "setting peer to %s, old peer %s\n",
-            port->name(), peer ? peer->name() : "<null>");
-    
-    // You'd think we'd want to disconnect from the previous peer
-    // here, but it turns out that with some functional ports the old
-    // peer keeps using the connection, and it works because
-    // functional ports are unidirectional.
-    //
-    // disconnectFromPeer();
+    DPRINTF(Config, "setting peer to %s\n", port->name());
 
     peer = port;
 }
 
+void
+Port::removeConn()
+{
+    if (peer->getOwner())
+        peer->getOwner()->deletePortRefs(peer);
+    peer = NULL;
+}
+
 void
 Port::blobHelper(Addr addr, uint8_t *p, int size, MemCmd cmd)
 {
diff --git a/src/mem/port.hh b/src/mem/port.hh
index 4e0d91e75..15fda2164 100644
--- a/src/mem/port.hh
+++ b/src/mem/port.hh
@@ -87,14 +87,17 @@ class Port
 
   public:
 
+    Port();
+
     /**
      * Constructor.
      *
      * @param _name Port name for DPRINTF output.  Should include name
      * of memory system object to which the port belongs.
      * @param _owner Pointer to the MemObject that owns this port.
+     * Will not necessarily be set.
      */
-    Port(const std::string &_name, MemObject *_owner, Port *_peer = NULL);
+    Port(const std::string &_name, MemObject *_owner = NULL);
 
     /** Return port name (for DPRINTF). */
     const std::string &name() const { return portName; }
@@ -108,18 +111,24 @@ class Port
         RangeChange
     };
 
+    void setName(const std::string &name)
+    { portName = name; }
+
     /** Function to set the pointer for the peer port. */
     virtual void setPeer(Port *port);
 
     /** Function to get the pointer to the peer port. */
     Port *getPeer() { return peer; }
 
+    /** Function to set the owner of this port. */
+    void setOwner(MemObject *_owner) { owner = _owner; }
+
     /** Function to return the owner of this port. */
     MemObject *getOwner() { return owner; }
 
-    /** Notify my peer port that I'm disconnecting (by calling its
-     * disconnect() method) so it can clean up. */
-    void disconnectFromPeer();
+    /** Inform the peer port to delete itself and notify it's owner about it's
+     * demise. */
+    void removeConn();
 
     virtual bool isDefaultPort() const { return false; }
 
@@ -245,11 +254,6 @@ class Port
     /** Internal helper function for read/writeBlob().
      */
     void blobHelper(Addr addr, uint8_t *p, int size, MemCmd cmd);
-
-    /** Receive notification that my peer is disconnecting and clean
-     * up (potentially deleting myself in the process). Should be
-     * called only from peer's disconnectFromPeer(). */
-    void disconnect();
 };
 
 /** A simple functional port that is only meant for one way communication to