diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 79ce11b29c..9d845c7f63 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1365,6 +1365,7 @@ virBitmapNewCopy;
 virBitmapNewData;
 virBitmapNewEmpty;
 virBitmapNewQuiet;
+virBitmapNewString;
 virBitmapNextClearBit;
 virBitmapNextSetBit;
 virBitmapOverlaps;
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.c b/src/util/virbitmap.c
index b1c1236fd3..47d16ee222 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.c
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "c-ctype.h"
 #include "count-one-bits.h"
 #include "virstring.h"
+#include "virutil.h"
 #include "virerror.h"
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NONE
@@ -1071,6 +1072,43 @@ virBitmapCountBits(virBitmapPtr bitmap)
     return ret;
 }
 
+
+/**
+ * virBitmapNewString:
+ * @string: the string to be converted to a bitmap
+ *
+ * Allocate a bitmap from a string of hexadecimal data.
+ *
+ * Returns a pointer to the allocated bitmap or NULL if
+ * memory cannot be allocated.
+ */
+virBitmapPtr
+virBitmapNewString(const char *string)
+{
+    virBitmapPtr bitmap;
+    size_t i = 0;
+    size_t len = strlen(string);
+
+    if (strspn(string, "0123456789abcdefABCDEF") != len) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
+                       _("Invalid hexadecimal string '%s'"), string);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    bitmap = virBitmapNew(len * 4);
+    if (!bitmap)
+        return NULL;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+        unsigned long nibble = virHexToBin(string[len - i - 1]);
+        nibble <<= VIR_BITMAP_BIT_OFFSET(i * 4);
+        bitmap->map[VIR_BITMAP_UNIT_OFFSET(i * 4)] |= nibble;
+    }
+
+    return bitmap;
+}
+
+
 /**
  * virBitmapDataFormat:
  * @data: the data
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.h b/src/util/virbitmap.h
index 02acb7519d..e964a3edc9 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.h
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.h
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ bool virBitmapIsBitSet(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b)
 int virBitmapGetBit(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b, bool *result)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(3) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
+virBitmapPtr
+virBitmapNewString(const char *string)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
+
 char *virBitmapToString(virBitmapPtr bitmap, bool prefix, bool trim)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
diff --git a/tests/virbitmaptest.c b/tests/virbitmaptest.c
index b666065346..656ce45629 100644
--- a/tests/virbitmaptest.c
+++ b/tests/virbitmaptest.c
@@ -663,6 +663,42 @@ test12(const void *opaque ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
     return ret;
 }
 
+
+/* virBitmap(New/To)String */
+static int
+test13(const void *opaque ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+{
+    virBitmapPtr map = NULL;
+    const char *strings[] = { "1234feebee", "000c0fefe" };
+    char *str = NULL;
+    size_t i = 0;
+    int ret = -1;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_CARDINALITY(strings); i++) {
+        map = virBitmapNewString(strings[i]);
+        str = virBitmapToString(map, false, true);
+
+        if (!map || !str)
+            goto cleanup;
+
+        if (STRNEQ(strings[i], str)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "\n expected bitmap string '%s' actual string "
+                    "'%s'\n", strings[i], str);
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+
+        VIR_FREE(str);
+        virBitmapFree(map);
+        map = NULL;
+    }
+
+    ret = 0;
+ cleanup:
+    VIR_FREE(str);
+    virBitmapFree(map);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 #undef TEST_MAP
 
 
@@ -711,6 +747,8 @@ mymain(void)
 
     if (virTestRun("test12", test12, NULL) < 0)
         ret = -1;
+    if (virTestRun("test13", test13, NULL) < 0)
+        ret = -1;
 
     return ret;
 }