NE2000 PCI is freezing on boot

Reproduction:
1. Start
kvm -m 512 -std-vga -no-acpi -no-kvm-irqchip -net nic,model=ne2k_pci,macaddr=... -net tap -vnc yourhostname:1 -cdrom jnode-x86-0.2.7.iso
(or the same without -no-acpi -no-kvm-irqchip)
2. Select grub option "(all plugins)"

Actual result:
Boot hangs (1+ minute) after showing "Waiting for all plugins to finish their startprocess", with 100% CPU usage.

Expected result:
Boots, and network card recognized.

Additional information:
- RT8139 works: The same command works (with 5-10s in the above plug load step) when you replace "ne2k_pci" with "rtl8139".
- "ne2k_isa" does not cause a hang, but no network card is detected either.