diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
index 372bd7b189..5f6699e021 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
@@ -3097,3 +3097,25 @@ int qemuMonitorGetCPUDefinitions(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
 
     return qemuMonitorJSONGetCPUDefinitions(mon, cpus);
 }
+
+
+int qemuMonitorGetCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                           char ***commands)
+{
+    VIR_DEBUG("mon=%p commands=%p",
+              mon, commands);
+
+    if (!mon) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
+                       _("monitor must not be NULL"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (!mon->json) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("JSON monitor is required"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return qemuMonitorJSONGetCommands(mon, commands);
+}
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
index ed771bb465..511d1688a4 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
@@ -596,6 +596,9 @@ void qemuMonitorMachineInfoFree(qemuMonitorMachineInfoPtr machine);
 int qemuMonitorGetCPUDefinitions(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                  char ***cpus);
 
+int qemuMonitorGetCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                           char ***commands);
+
 
 /**
  * When running two dd process and using <> redirection, we need a
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index bc77321ced..63090042a5 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -976,32 +976,15 @@ int
 qemuMonitorJSONCheckCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                              qemuCapsPtr caps)
 {
-    int ret = -1;
-    virJSONValuePtr cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("query-commands", NULL);
-    virJSONValuePtr reply = NULL;
-    virJSONValuePtr data;
-    int i, n;
+    char **commands = NULL;
+    int ncommands;
+    size_t i;
 
-    if (!cmd)
-        return ret;
-
-    if (qemuMonitorJSONCommand(mon, cmd, &reply) < 0 ||
-        qemuMonitorJSONCheckError(cmd, reply) < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
-
-    if (!(data = virJSONValueObjectGet(reply, "return")) ||
-        data->type != VIR_JSON_TYPE_ARRAY ||
-        (n = virJSONValueArraySize(data)) <= 0)
-        goto cleanup;
-
-    for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
-        virJSONValuePtr entry;
-        const char *name;
-
-        if (!(entry = virJSONValueArrayGet(data, i)) ||
-            !(name = virJSONValueObjectGetString(entry, "name")))
-            goto cleanup;
+    if ((ncommands = qemuMonitorJSONGetCommands(mon, &commands)) < 0)
+        return -1;
 
+    for (i = 0 ; i < ncommands ; i++) {
+        char *name = commands[i];
         if (STREQ(name, "system_wakeup"))
             qemuCapsSet(caps, QEMU_CAPS_WAKEUP);
         else if (STREQ(name, "transaction"))
@@ -1012,14 +995,11 @@ qemuMonitorJSONCheckCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
             qemuCapsSet(caps, QEMU_CAPS_BLOCKJOB_ASYNC);
         else if (STREQ(name, "dump-guest-memory"))
             qemuCapsSet(caps, QEMU_CAPS_DUMP_GUEST_MEMORY);
+        VIR_FREE(name);
     }
+    VIR_FREE(commands);
 
-    ret = 0;
-
-cleanup:
-    virJSONValueFree(cmd);
-    virJSONValueFree(reply);
-    return ret;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 
@@ -4116,3 +4096,77 @@ cleanup:
     virJSONValueFree(reply);
     return ret;
 }
+
+
+int qemuMonitorJSONGetCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               char ***commands)
+{
+    int ret;
+    virJSONValuePtr cmd;
+    virJSONValuePtr reply = NULL;
+    virJSONValuePtr data;
+    char **commandlist = NULL;
+    int n = 0;
+    size_t i;
+
+    *commands = NULL;
+
+    if (!(cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("query-commands", NULL)))
+        return -1;
+
+    ret = qemuMonitorJSONCommand(mon, cmd, &reply);
+
+    if (ret == 0)
+        ret = qemuMonitorJSONCheckError(cmd, reply);
+
+    if (ret < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    ret = -1;
+
+    if (!(data = virJSONValueObjectGet(reply, "return"))) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("query-commands reply was missing return data"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    if ((n = virJSONValueArraySize(data)) < 0) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                       _("query-commands reply data was not an array"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    if (VIR_ALLOC_N(commandlist, n) < 0) {
+        virReportOOMError();
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    for (i = 0 ; i < n ; i++) {
+        virJSONValuePtr child = virJSONValueArrayGet(data, i);
+        const char *tmp;
+
+        if (!(tmp = virJSONValueObjectGetString(child, "name"))) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                           _("query-commands reply data was missing 'name'"));
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+
+        if (!(commandlist[i] = strdup(tmp))) {
+            virReportOOMError();
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+    }
+
+    ret = n;
+    *commands = commandlist;
+
+cleanup:
+    if (ret < 0 && commandlist) {
+        for (i = 0 ; i < n ; i++)
+            VIR_FREE(commandlist[i]);
+        VIR_FREE(commandlist);
+    }
+    virJSONValueFree(cmd);
+    virJSONValueFree(reply);
+    return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
index ea6bf89684..54aaf0b91c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
@@ -298,4 +298,8 @@ int qemuMonitorJSONGetCPUDefinitions(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                      char ***cpus)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
 
+int qemuMonitorJSONGetCommands(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               char ***commands)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
+
 #endif /* QEMU_MONITOR_JSON_H */
diff --git a/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c b/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
index c447e693cc..264c140c67 100644
--- a/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
+++ b/tests/qemumonitorjsontest.c
@@ -362,6 +362,67 @@ cleanup:
 }
 
 
+static int
+testQemuMonitorJSONGetCommands(const void *data)
+{
+    virCapsPtr caps = (virCapsPtr)data;
+    qemuMonitorTestPtr test = qemuMonitorTestNew(true, caps);
+    int ret = -1;
+    char **commands = NULL;
+    int ncommands;
+
+    if (!test)
+        return -1;
+
+    if (qemuMonitorTestAddItem(test, "query-commands",
+                               "{ "
+                               "  \"return\": [ "
+                               "   { "
+                               "     \"name\": \"system_wakeup\" "
+                               "   }, "
+                               "   { "
+                               "     \"name\": \"cont\" "
+                               "   }, "
+                               "   { "
+                               "     \"name\": \"quit\" "
+                               "   } "
+                               "  ]"
+                               "}") < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    if ((ncommands = qemuMonitorGetCommands(qemuMonitorTestGetMonitor(test),
+                                        &commands)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    if (ncommands != 3) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                       "ncommands %d is not 3", ncommands);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+#define CHECK(i, wantname)                                              \
+    do {                                                                \
+        if (STRNEQ(commands[i], (wantname))) {                          \
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,                      \
+                           "name %s is not %s",                         \
+                           commands[i], (wantname));                    \
+            goto cleanup;                                               \
+        }                                                               \
+    } while (0)
+
+    CHECK(0, "system_wakeup");
+    CHECK(1, "cont");
+    CHECK(2, "quit");
+
+#undef CHECK
+    ret = 0;
+
+cleanup:
+    qemuMonitorTestFree(test);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 static int
 mymain(void)
 {
@@ -384,6 +445,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST(GetVersion);
     DO_TEST(GetMachines);
     DO_TEST(GetCPUDefinitions);
+    DO_TEST(GetCommands);
 
     virCapabilitiesFree(caps);