diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 6b401aa5e0..67579742fd 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2056,6 +2056,7 @@ virIdentitySetX509DName;
 
 
 # util/virinitctl.h
+virInitctlFifos;
 virInitctlSetRunLevel;
 
 
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c b/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
index f7001d2ea4..d6be9e8757 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
@@ -3277,7 +3277,7 @@ lxcDomainInitctlCallback(pid_t pid ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
                          void *opaque)
 {
     int *command = opaque;
-    return virInitctlSetRunLevel(*command);
+    return virInitctlSetRunLevel(NULL, *command);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/util/virinitctl.c b/src/util/virinitctl.c
index 0b06743151..bbcbbb483d 100644
--- a/src/util/virinitctl.c
+++ b/src/util/virinitctl.c
@@ -101,7 +101,21 @@ struct virInitctlRequest {
   verify(sizeof(struct virInitctlRequest) == 384);
 # endif
 
-/*
+
+/* List of fifos that inits are known to listen on */
+const char *virInitctlFifos[] = {
+  "/run/initctl",
+  "/dev/initctl",
+  "/etc/.initctl",
+  NULL
+};
+
+
+/**
+ * virInitctlSetRunLevel:
+ * @fifo: the path to fifo that init listens on (can be NULL for autodetection)
+ * @level: the desired runlevel
+ *
  * Send a message to init to change the runlevel. This function is
  * asynchronous-signal-safe (thus safe to use after fork of a
  * multithreaded parent) - which is good, because it should only be
@@ -110,18 +124,14 @@ struct virInitctlRequest {
  * Returns 1 on success, 0 if initctl does not exist, -1 on error
  */
 int
-virInitctlSetRunLevel(virInitctlRunLevel level)
+virInitctlSetRunLevel(const char *fifo,
+                      virInitctlRunLevel level)
 {
     struct virInitctlRequest req;
     int fd = -1;
     int ret = -1;
-    const char *initctl_fifo = NULL;
+    const int open_flags = O_WRONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_NOCTTY;
     size_t i = 0;
-    const char *initctl_fifos[] = {
-        "/run/initctl",
-        "/dev/initctl",
-        "/etc/.initctl",
-    };
 
     memset(&req, 0, sizeof(req));
 
@@ -131,31 +141,39 @@ virInitctlSetRunLevel(virInitctlRunLevel level)
     /* Yes it is an 'int' field, but wants a numeric character. Go figure */
     req.runlevel = '0' + level;
 
-    for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_CARDINALITY(initctl_fifos); i++) {
-        initctl_fifo = initctl_fifos[i];
-
-        if ((fd = open(initctl_fifo,
-                       O_WRONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_NOCTTY)) >= 0)
-            break;
-
-        if (errno != ENOENT) {
+    if (fifo) {
+        if ((fd = open(fifo, open_flags)) < 0) {
             virReportSystemError(errno,
                                  _("Cannot open init control %s"),
-                                 initctl_fifo);
+                                 fifo);
             goto cleanup;
         }
-    }
+    } else {
+        for (i = 0; virInitctlFifos[i]; i++) {
+            fifo = virInitctlFifos[i];
 
-    /* Ensure we found a valid initctl fifo */
-    if (fd < 0) {
-        ret = 0;
-        goto cleanup;
+            if ((fd = open(fifo, open_flags)) >= 0)
+                break;
+
+            if (errno != ENOENT) {
+                virReportSystemError(errno,
+                                     _("Cannot open init control %s"),
+                                     fifo);
+                goto cleanup;
+            }
+        }
+
+        /* Ensure we found a valid initctl fifo */
+        if (fd < 0) {
+            ret = 0;
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
     }
 
     if (safewrite(fd, &req, sizeof(req)) != sizeof(req)) {
         virReportSystemError(errno,
                              _("Failed to send request to init control %s"),
-                             initctl_fifo);
+                             fifo);
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -166,7 +184,8 @@ virInitctlSetRunLevel(virInitctlRunLevel level)
     return ret;
 }
 #else
-int virInitctlSetRunLevel(virInitctlRunLevel level ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+int virInitctlSetRunLevel(const char *fifo ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                          virInitctlRunLevel level ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
 {
     virReportUnsupportedError();
     return -1;
diff --git a/src/util/virinitctl.h b/src/util/virinitctl.h
index 7ac627883a..14dda98b5b 100644
--- a/src/util/virinitctl.h
+++ b/src/util/virinitctl.h
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ typedef enum {
     VIR_INITCTL_RUNLEVEL_LAST
 } virInitctlRunLevel;
 
-int virInitctlSetRunLevel(virInitctlRunLevel level);
+
+extern const char *virInitctlFifos[];
+
+int virInitctlSetRunLevel(const char *fifo,
+                          virInitctlRunLevel level);
 
 #endif /* LIBVIRT_VIRINITCTL_H */