diff --git a/os_vif/objects/fields.py b/os_vif/objects/fields.py
index bfe0a92f..1b034bf6 100644
--- a/os_vif/objects/fields.py
+++ b/os_vif/objects/fields.py
@@ -70,3 +70,18 @@ class VIFVHostUserModeField(fields.BaseEnumField):
 
 class ListOfIPAddressField(fields.AutoTypedField):
     AUTO_TYPE = fields.List(fields.IPAddress())
+
+
+class VIFVIFHostDeviceDevType(fields.Enum):
+    ETHERNET = 'ethernet'
+    GENERIC = 'generic'
+
+    ALL = (ETHERNET, GENERIC)
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(VIFVIFHostDeviceDevType, self).__init__(
+            valid_values=VIFVIFHostDeviceDevType.ALL)
+
+
+class VIFVIFHostDeviceDevTypeField(fields.BaseEnumField):
+    AUTO_TYPE = VIFVIFHostDeviceDevType()
diff --git a/os_vif/objects/vif.py b/os_vif/objects/vif.py
index 5b6933e7..67528293 100644
--- a/os_vif/objects/vif.py
+++ b/os_vif/objects/vif.py
@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ class VIFHostDevice(VIFBase):
     VERSION = '1.0'
 
     fields = {
+
+        # The type of the host device.
+        # Valid values are ethernet and generic.
+        # Ethernet is <interface type='hostdev'>
+        # Generic is <hostdev mode='subsystem' type='pci'>
+        'dev_type': osv_fields.VIFVIFHostDeviceDevTypeField(),
+
         # The PCI address of the host device
         'dev_address': osv_fields.PCIAddressField(),
 
diff --git a/os_vif/tests/test_vif.py b/os_vif/tests/test_vif.py
index 4bb4ab77..61679169 100644
--- a/os_vif/tests/test_vif.py
+++ b/os_vif/tests/test_vif.py
@@ -78,9 +78,10 @@ class TestVIFS(base.TestCase):
                        mode=objects.fields.VIFVHostUserMode.CLIENT)
 
     def test_vif_host_dev_plain(self):
-        self._test_vif(objects.vif.VIFHostDevice,
-                       dev_address="0002:24:12.3",
-                       vlan=8)
+        self._test_vif(
+            objects.vif.VIFHostDevice,
+            dev_type=objects.fields.VIFVIFHostDeviceDevType.ETHERNET,
+            dev_address="0002:24:12.3", vlan=8)
 
     def test_vif_host_dev_vepa_qbh(self):
         prof = objects.vif.VIFPortProfile8021Qbh(