diff --git a/po/POTFILES.in b/po/POTFILES.in
index bf0a3b3529..1fd3afdd6f 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_domainjob.c
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_extdevice.c
+@SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_fd.c
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_hostdev.c
 @SRCDIR@src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
diff --git a/src/qemu/meson.build b/src/qemu/meson.build
index 3ea084cff8..39f0f615cc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/meson.build
+++ b/src/qemu/meson.build
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ qemu_driver_sources = [
   'qemu_domainjob.c',
   'qemu_driver.c',
   'qemu_extdevice.c',
+  'qemu_fd.c',
   'qemu_firmware.c',
   'qemu_hostdev.c',
   'qemu_hotplug.c',
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_fd.c b/src/qemu/qemu_fd.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..29370a4bb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_fd.c
@@ -0,0 +1,320 @@
+/*
+ * qemu_fd.c: QEMU fd and fdpass passing helpers
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "qemu_fd.h"
+#include "qemu_domain.h"
+
+#include "viralloc.h"
+#include "virfile.h"
+#include "virlog.h"
+
+#define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_QEMU
+VIR_LOG_INIT("qemu.qemu_fd");
+
+struct qemuFDPassFD {
+    int fd;
+    char *opaque;
+};
+
+struct _qemuFDPass {
+    bool useFDSet;
+    unsigned int fdSetID;
+    size_t nfds;
+    struct qemuFDPassFD *fds;
+    char *prefix;
+    char *path;
+
+    bool passed; /* passed to qemu via monitor */
+};
+
+
+void
+qemuFDPassFree(qemuFDPass *fdpass)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (!fdpass)
+        return;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < fdpass->nfds; i++) {
+        VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fdpass->fds[i].fd);
+        g_free(fdpass->fds[i].opaque);
+    }
+
+    g_free(fdpass->fds);
+    g_free(fdpass->prefix);
+    g_free(fdpass->path);
+    g_free(fdpass);
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassNew:
+ * @prefix: prefix used for naming the passed FDs
+ * @dompriv: qemu domain private data
+ *
+ * Create a new helper object for passing FDs to QEMU. The instance created
+ * via 'qemuFDPassNew' will result in the fd passed via a 'fdset' (/dev/fdset/N).
+ *
+ * Non-test uses must pass a valid @dompriv.
+ *
+ * @prefix is used as prefix for naming the fd in QEMU.
+ */
+qemuFDPass *
+qemuFDPassNew(const char *prefix,
+              void *dompriv)
+{
+    qemuDomainObjPrivate *priv = dompriv;
+    qemuFDPass *fdpass = g_new0(qemuFDPass, 1);
+
+    fdpass->prefix = g_strdup(prefix);
+    fdpass->useFDSet = true;
+
+    if (priv)
+        fdpass->fdSetID = qemuDomainFDSetIDNew(priv);
+
+    return fdpass;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassNewDirect:
+ * @prefix: prefix used for naming the passed FDs
+ * @dompriv: qemu domain private data
+ *
+ * Create a new helper object for passing FDs to QEMU.
+ *
+ * The instance created via 'qemuFDPassNewDirect' will result in the older
+ * approach of directly using FD number on the commandline and 'getfd'
+ * QMP command.
+ *
+ * Non-test uses must pass a valid @dompriv.
+ *
+ * @prefix is used for naming the FD if needed and is later referenced when
+ * removing the FDSet via monitor.
+ */
+qemuFDPass *
+qemuFDPassNewDirect(const char *prefix,
+                    void *dompriv G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    qemuFDPass *fdpass = g_new0(qemuFDPass, 1);
+
+    fdpass->prefix = g_strdup(prefix);
+
+    return fdpass;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassAddFD:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ * @fd: File descriptor to pass
+ * @suffix: Name suffix for the file descriptor name
+ *
+ * Adds @fd to be passed to qemu when transferring @fdpass to qemu. When @fdpass
+ * is configured to use FD set mode, multiple file descriptors can be passed by
+ * calling this function repeatedly.
+ *
+ * @suffix is used to build the name of the file descriptor by concatenating
+ * it with @prefix passed to qemuFDPassNew. @suffix may be NULL, in which case
+ * it's considered to be an empty string.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, -1 on error (when attempting to pass multiple FDs) using
+ * the 'direct' method.
+ */
+int
+qemuFDPassAddFD(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                int *fd,
+                const char *suffix)
+{
+    struct qemuFDPassFD newfd = { .fd = *fd };
+
+    if (newfd.fd < 0) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("invalid file descriptor"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (!fdpass->useFDSet &&
+        fdpass->nfds >= 1) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("direct FD passing supports only 1 file descriptor"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    *fd = -1;
+
+    newfd.opaque = g_strdup_printf("%s%s", fdpass->prefix, NULLSTR_EMPTY(suffix));
+
+    VIR_APPEND_ELEMENT(fdpass->fds, fdpass->nfds, newfd);
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassTransferCommand:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ * @cmd: Command to pass the filedescriptors to
+ *
+ * Pass the fds in @fdpass to a commandline object @cmd. @fdpass may be NULL
+ * in which case this is a no-op.
+ */
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferCommand(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                          virCommand *cmd)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (!fdpass)
+        return;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < fdpass->nfds; i++) {
+        virCommandPassFD(cmd, fdpass->fds[i].fd, VIR_COMMAND_PASS_FD_CLOSE_PARENT);
+
+        if (fdpass->useFDSet) {
+            g_autofree char *arg = NULL;
+
+            arg = g_strdup_printf("set=%u,fd=%d,opaque=%s",
+                                  fdpass->fdSetID,
+                                  fdpass->fds[i].fd,
+                                  fdpass->fds[i].opaque);
+
+            virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "-add-fd", arg, NULL);
+
+            fdpass->path = g_strdup_printf("/dev/fdset/%u", fdpass->fdSetID);
+        } else {
+            fdpass->path = g_strdup_printf("%u", fdpass->fds[i].fd);
+        }
+
+        fdpass->fds[i].fd = -1;
+    }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassTransferMonitor:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ * @mon: monitor object
+ *
+ * Pass the fds in @fdpass to qemu via the monitor. @fdpass may be NULL
+ * in which case this is a no-op. Caller needs to enter the monitor context.
+ */
+int
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitor(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                          qemuMonitor *mon)
+{
+    int fdsetid = -1;
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (!fdpass)
+        return 0;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < fdpass->nfds; i++) {
+        if (fdpass->useFDSet) {
+            qemuMonitorAddFdInfo fdsetinfo;
+
+            if (qemuMonitorAddFileHandleToSet(mon,
+                                              fdpass->fds[i].fd,
+                                              fdsetid,
+                                              fdpass->fds[i].opaque,
+                                              &fdsetinfo) < 0)
+                return -1;
+
+            if (fdsetid == -1) {
+                fdpass->fdSetID = fdsetid = fdsetinfo.fdset;
+                fdpass->path = g_strdup_printf("/dev/fdset/%u", fdsetid);
+            }
+        } else {
+            if (qemuMonitorSendFileHandle(mon,
+                                          fdpass->fds[i].opaque,
+                                          fdpass->fds[i].fd) < 0)
+                return -1;
+
+            fdpass->path = g_strdup(fdpass->fds[i].opaque);
+        }
+
+        fdpass->passed = true;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassTransferMonitorFake:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ *
+ * Simulate as if @fdpass was passed via monitor for callers which don't
+ * actually wish to test that code path.
+ */
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitorFake(qemuFDPass *fdpass)
+{
+
+    if (!fdpass)
+        return;
+
+    if (fdpass->useFDSet) {
+        fdpass->path = g_strdup_printf("/dev/fdset/monitor-fake");
+    } else {
+        fdpass->path = g_strdup(fdpass->fds[0].opaque);
+    }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassTransferMonitorRollback:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ * @mon: monitor object
+ *
+ * Rolls back the addition of @fdpass to @mon if it was added originally.
+ */
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitorRollback(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                                  qemuMonitor *mon)
+{
+    if (!fdpass || !fdpass->passed)
+        return;
+
+    if (fdpass->useFDSet) {
+        ignore_value(qemuMonitorRemoveFdset(mon, fdpass->fdSetID));
+    } else {
+        ignore_value(qemuMonitorCloseFileHandle(mon, fdpass->fds[0].opaque));
+    }
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * qemuFDPassGetPath:
+ * @fdpass: The fd passing helper struct
+ *
+ * Returns the path/fd name that is used in qemu to refer to the passed FD.
+ * Note that it's only valid to call this function after @fdpass was already
+ * transferred to the command or monitor.
+ */
+const char *
+qemuFDPassGetPath(qemuFDPass *fdpass)
+{
+    if (!fdpass)
+        return NULL;
+
+    return fdpass->path;
+}
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_fd.h b/src/qemu/qemu_fd.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6d090392db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_fd.h
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * qemu_fd.h: QEMU fd and fdpass passing helpers
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "vircommand.h"
+#include "qemu_monitor.h"
+
+typedef struct _qemuFDPass qemuFDPass;
+
+void
+qemuFDPassFree(qemuFDPass *fdpass);
+G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(qemuFDPass, qemuFDPassFree);
+
+qemuFDPass *
+qemuFDPassNew(const char *prefix,
+              void *dompriv);
+qemuFDPass *
+qemuFDPassNewDirect(const char *prefix,
+                    void *dompriv);
+
+int
+qemuFDPassAddFD(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                int *fd,
+                const char *suffix);
+
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferCommand(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                          virCommand *cmd);
+
+int
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitor(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                          qemuMonitor *mon);
+
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitorFake(qemuFDPass *fdpass);
+
+void
+qemuFDPassTransferMonitorRollback(qemuFDPass *fdpass,
+                                  qemuMonitor *mon);
+
+const char *
+qemuFDPassGetPath(qemuFDPass *fdpass);