diff --git a/src/conf/cpu_conf.c b/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
index 6e6e1b9a89..4dca7e57ec 100644
--- a/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/cpu_conf.c
@@ -982,6 +982,30 @@ virCPUDefFindFeature(const virCPUDef *def,
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * virCPUDefListExplicitFeatures:
+ * @def: CPU definition
+ *
+ * Provides a list of feature names explicitly mentioned in the CPU definition
+ * regardless of the policy. The caller is responsible for freeing the list.
+ *
+ * Returns a NULL-terminated list of feature names.
+ */
+char **
+virCPUDefListExplicitFeatures(const virCPUDef *def)
+{
+    char **list;
+    size_t i;
+
+    list = g_new0(char *, def->nfeatures + 1);
+
+    for (i = 0; i < def->nfeatures; i++)
+        list[i] = g_strdup(def->features[i].name);
+
+    return list;
+}
+
+
 int
 virCPUDefFilterFeatures(virCPUDef *cpu,
                         virCPUDefFeatureFilter filter,
diff --git a/src/conf/cpu_conf.h b/src/conf/cpu_conf.h
index 2694022fed..b10c23ee82 100644
--- a/src/conf/cpu_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/cpu_conf.h
@@ -270,6 +270,9 @@ virCPUDefCheckFeatures(virCPUDef *cpu,
                        void *opaque,
                        char ***features);
 
+char **
+virCPUDefListExplicitFeatures(const virCPUDef *def);
+
 virCPUDef **
 virCPUDefListParse(const char **xmlCPUs,
                    unsigned int ncpus,
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 98a925933e..6b6bcc368a 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ virCPUDefFree;
 virCPUDefFreeFeatures;
 virCPUDefFreeModel;
 virCPUDefIsEqual;
+virCPUDefListExplicitFeatures;
 virCPUDefListFree;
 virCPUDefListParse;
 virCPUDefNew;