diff --git a/src/util/virnetdev.c b/src/util/virnetdev.c
index 460aa837d6..72af3cd778 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdev.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdev.c
@@ -1288,7 +1288,7 @@ virNetDevLinkDump(const char *ifname, int ifindex,
         }
     }
 
-    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, recvbuf, &recvbuflen, pid) < 0)
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0, pid) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (recvbuflen < NLMSG_LENGTH(0) || *recvbuf == NULL)
@@ -1416,7 +1416,7 @@ virNetDevSetVfConfig(const char *ifname, int ifindex, int vf,
         }
     }
 
-    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, pid) < 0)
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0, pid) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (recvbuflen < NLMSG_LENGTH(0) || recvbuf == NULL)
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c b/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
index 879d846e85..ef9e052ddd 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2010-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2010-2012 IBM Corporation
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ virNetDevMacVLanCreate(const char *ifname,
 
     nla_nest_end(nl_msg, linkinfo);
 
-    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0) < 0) {
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0, 0) < 0) {
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ int virNetDevMacVLanDelete(const char *ifname)
     if (nla_put(nl_msg, IFLA_IFNAME, strlen(ifname)+1, ifname) < 0)
         goto buffer_too_small;
 
-    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0) < 0) {
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0, 0) < 0) {
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevvportprofile.c b/src/util/virnetdevvportprofile.c
index 5b562be44b..def5c62031 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevvportprofile.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevvportprofile.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ virNetDevVPortProfileOpSetLink(const char *ifname, int ifindex,
             goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, pid) < 0)
+    if (virNetlinkCommand(nl_msg, &recvbuf, &recvbuflen, 0, pid) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     if (recvbuflen < NLMSG_LENGTH(0) || recvbuf == NULL)
diff --git a/src/util/virnetlink.c b/src/util/virnetlink.c
index 3577ecc9da..9bf5a76b02 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetlink.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetlink.c
@@ -158,12 +158,12 @@ virNetlinkShutdown(void)
  */
 int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg,
                       unsigned char **respbuf, unsigned int *respbuflen,
-                      int nl_pid)
+                      uint32_t src_pid, uint32_t dst_pid)
 {
     int rc = 0;
     struct sockaddr_nl nladdr = {
             .nl_family = AF_NETLINK,
-            .nl_pid    = nl_pid,
+            .nl_pid    = dst_pid,
             .nl_groups = 0,
     };
     ssize_t nbytes;
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg,
 
     nlmsg_set_dst(nl_msg, &nladdr);
 
-    nlmsg->nlmsg_pid = getpid();
+    nlmsg->nlmsg_pid = src_pid ? src_pid : getpid();
 
     nbytes = nl_send_auto_complete(nlhandle, nl_msg);
     if (nbytes < 0) {
@@ -602,9 +602,10 @@ virNetlinkShutdown(void)
 }
 
 int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
-           unsigned char **respbuf ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
-           unsigned int *respbuflen ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
-           int nl_pid ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+                      unsigned char **respbuf ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                      unsigned int *respbuflen ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                      uint32_t src_pid ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                      uint32_t dst_pid ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 {
     netlinkError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s", _(unsupported));
     return -1;
diff --git a/src/util/virnetlink.h b/src/util/virnetlink.h
index 93df59ad82..c57be821ff 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetlink.h
+++ b/src/util/virnetlink.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ void virNetlinkShutdown(void);
 
 int virNetlinkCommand(struct nl_msg *nl_msg,
                       unsigned char **respbuf, unsigned int *respbuflen,
-                      int nl_pid);
+                      uint32_t src_port, uint32_t dst_port);
 
 typedef void (*virNetlinkEventHandleCallback)(unsigned char *msg, int length, struct sockaddr_nl *peer, bool *handled, void *opaque);