diff --git a/src/cpu/cpu.c b/src/cpu/cpu.c
index b88f9955f3..ed79650459 100644
--- a/src/cpu/cpu.c
+++ b/src/cpu/cpu.c
@@ -1076,3 +1076,53 @@ virCPUConvertLegacy(virArch arch,
     VIR_DEBUG("model=%s", NULLSTR(cpu->model));
     return 0;
 }
+
+
+static int
+virCPUFeatureCompare(const void *p1,
+                     const void *p2)
+{
+    const virCPUFeatureDef *f1 = p1;
+    const virCPUFeatureDef *f2 = p2;
+
+    return strcmp(f1->name, f2->name);
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * virCPUExpandFeatures:
+ *
+ * @arch: CPU architecture
+ * @cpu: CPU definition to be expanded
+ *
+ * Add all features implicitly enabled by the CPU model to the list of
+ * features. The @cpu is expected to be either a host or a guest representation
+ * of a host CPU, i.e., only VIR_CPU_FEATURE_REQUIRE and
+ * VIR_CPU_FEATURE_DISABLE policies are supported.
+ *
+ * The updated list of features in the CPU definition is sorted.
+ *
+ * Return -1 on error, 0 on success.
+ */
+int
+virCPUExpandFeatures(virArch arch,
+                     virCPUDefPtr cpu)
+{
+    struct cpuArchDriver *driver;
+
+    VIR_DEBUG("arch=%s, cpu=%p, model=%s, nfeatures=%zu",
+              virArchToString(arch), cpu, NULLSTR(cpu->model), cpu->nfeatures);
+
+    if (!(driver = cpuGetSubDriver(arch)))
+        return -1;
+
+    if (driver->expandFeatures &&
+        driver->expandFeatures(cpu) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
+    qsort(cpu->features, cpu->nfeatures, sizeof(*cpu->features),
+          virCPUFeatureCompare);
+
+    VIR_DEBUG("nfeatures=%zu", cpu->nfeatures);
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/cpu/cpu.h b/src/cpu/cpu.h
index c4adc02f55..905c309e6b 100644
--- a/src/cpu/cpu.h
+++ b/src/cpu/cpu.h
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ typedef int
 typedef int
 (*virCPUArchConvertLegacy)(virCPUDefPtr cpu);
 
+typedef int
+(*virCPUArchExpandFeatures)(virCPUDefPtr cpu);
+
 struct cpuArchDriver {
     const char *name;
     const virArch *arch;
@@ -135,6 +138,7 @@ struct cpuArchDriver {
     virCPUArchGetModels getModels;
     virCPUArchTranslate translate;
     virCPUArchConvertLegacy convertLegacy;
+    virCPUArchExpandFeatures expandFeatures;
 };
 
 
@@ -247,6 +251,10 @@ virCPUConvertLegacy(virArch arch,
                     virCPUDefPtr cpu)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
 
+int
+virCPUExpandFeatures(virArch arch,
+                     virCPUDefPtr cpu);
+
 /* virCPUDataFormat and virCPUDataParse are implemented for unit tests only and
  * have no real-life usage
  */
diff --git a/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c b/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
index 9e208b0948..442f0ce44b 100644
--- a/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
+++ b/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
@@ -2891,6 +2891,58 @@ virCPUx86Translate(virCPUDefPtr cpu,
 }
 
 
+static int
+virCPUx86ExpandFeatures(virCPUDefPtr cpu)
+{
+    virCPUx86MapPtr map;
+    virCPUDefPtr expanded = NULL;
+    virCPUx86ModelPtr model = NULL;
+    bool host = cpu->type == VIR_CPU_TYPE_HOST;
+    size_t i;
+    int ret = -1;
+
+    if (!(map = virCPUx86GetMap()))
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    if (!(expanded = virCPUDefCopy(cpu)))
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    virCPUDefFreeFeatures(expanded);
+
+    if (!(model = x86ModelFind(map, cpu->model))) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                       _("unknown CPU model %s"), cpu->model);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    if (!(model = x86ModelCopy(model)) ||
+        x86DataToCPUFeatures(expanded, host ? -1 : VIR_CPU_FEATURE_REQUIRE,
+                             &model->data, map) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < cpu->nfeatures; i++) {
+        virCPUFeatureDefPtr f = cpu->features + i;
+
+        if (!host &&
+            f->policy != VIR_CPU_FEATURE_REQUIRE &&
+            f->policy != VIR_CPU_FEATURE_DISABLE)
+            continue;
+
+        if (virCPUDefUpdateFeature(expanded, f->name, f->policy) < 0)
+            goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    virCPUDefFreeModel(cpu);
+
+    ret = virCPUDefCopyModel(cpu, expanded, false);
+
+ cleanup:
+    virCPUDefFree(expanded);
+    x86ModelFree(model);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 int
 virCPUx86DataAddCPUID(virCPUDataPtr cpuData,
                       const virCPUx86CPUID *cpuid)
@@ -2965,4 +3017,5 @@ struct cpuArchDriver cpuDriverX86 = {
     .dataParse  = virCPUx86DataParse,
     .getModels  = virCPUx86GetModels,
     .translate  = virCPUx86Translate,
+    .expandFeatures = virCPUx86ExpandFeatures,
 };
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 1e160d80e9..d614b38a86 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1021,6 +1021,7 @@ virCPUDataFormat;
 virCPUDataFree;
 virCPUDataNew;
 virCPUDataParse;
+virCPUExpandFeatures;
 virCPUGetHost;
 virCPUGetModels;
 virCPUProbeHost;