diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index ee1cf6f9bb..c096e5bb9a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -683,6 +683,33 @@ qemuDomainStorageIDReset(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv)
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * qemuDomainFDSetIDNew:
+ * @priv: qemu VM private data object.
+ *
+ * Generate a new unique id for a fdset. Note that this is necessary only for
+ * startup. When running qemu auto-assigns id for added fdset.
+ */
+unsigned int
+qemuDomainFDSetIDNew(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv)
+{
+    return priv->fdsetindex++;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuDomainFDSetIDReset:
+ * @priv: qemu VM private data object.
+ *
+ * Resets the data for the fdset ID generator.
+ */
+static void
+qemuDomainFDSetIDReset(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv)
+{
+    priv->fdsetindex = 0;
+}
+
+
 static void
 qemuDomainSecretInfoClear(qemuDomainSecretInfo *secinfo,
                           bool keepAlias)
@@ -1683,6 +1710,8 @@ qemuDomainObjPrivateDataClear(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv)
     /* reset node name allocator */
     qemuDomainStorageIDReset(priv);
 
+    qemuDomainFDSetIDReset(priv);
+
     priv->dbusDaemonRunning = false;
 
     if (priv->dbusVMStateIds)
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 0a9d312b65..52b500f294 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ struct _qemuDomainObjPrivate {
     /* counter for generating node names for qemu disks */
     unsigned long long nodenameindex;
 
+    /* counter for generating IDs of fdsets - only relevant during startup */
+    unsigned int fdsetindex;
+
     /* qemuProcessStartCPUs stores the reason for starting vCPUs here for the
      * RESUME event handler to use it */
     virDomainRunningReason runningReason;
@@ -969,6 +972,8 @@ char * qemuDomainGetManagedPRSocketPath(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv);
 
 bool qemuDomainDefHasManagedPR(virDomainObj *vm);
 
+unsigned int qemuDomainFDSetIDNew(qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv);
+
 virDomainEventResumedDetailType
 qemuDomainRunningReasonToResumeEvent(virDomainRunningReason reason);