diff --git a/src/emu/distate.h b/src/emu/distate.h
index d3679b755e6..1d16e81f793 100644
--- a/src/emu/distate.h
+++ b/src/emu/distate.h
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ class device_state_entry
 {
 	friend class device_state_interface;
 	friend class simple_list<device_state_entry>;
-	friend class lua_engine;
 
 private:
 	// construction/destruction
diff --git a/src/emu/luaengine.c b/src/emu/luaengine.c
index f38a7386442..1f1e9b9db91 100644
--- a/src/emu/luaengine.c
+++ b/src/emu/luaengine.c
@@ -456,23 +456,33 @@ luabridge::LuaRef lua_engine::l_dev_get_states(const device_t *d)
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------------------
-//  state_get_value - return value of a devices state
+//  state_get_value - return value of a device state entry
 //  -> manager:machine().devices[":maincpu"].state["PC"].value
 //-------------------------------------------------
 
 UINT64 lua_engine::l_state_get_value(const device_state_entry *d)
 {
-	return d->value();
+	device_state_interface *state = d->parent_state();
+	if(state) {
+		luaThis->machine().save().dispatch_presave();
+		return state->state_int(d->index());
+	} else {
+		return 0;
+	}
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------------------
-//  state_set_value - set value of a devices state
+//  state_set_value - set value of a device state entry
 //  -> manager:machine().devices[":maincpu"].state["D0"].value = 0x0c00
 //-------------------------------------------------
 
 void lua_engine::l_state_set_value(device_state_entry *d, UINT64 val)
 {
-	d->set_value(val);
+	device_state_interface *state = d->parent_state();
+	if(state) {
+		state->set_state_int(d->index(), val);
+		luaThis->machine().save().dispatch_presave();
+	}
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------------------