diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index e318eac557..554c8dffee 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1510,7 +1510,7 @@ int virQEMUCapsParseHelpStr(const char *qemu,
                                    qemuCaps, check_yajl) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    strflags = virBitmapToString(qemuCaps->flags, true);
+    strflags = virBitmapToString(qemuCaps->flags, true, false);
     VIR_DEBUG("Version %u.%u.%u, cooked version %u, flags %s",
               major, minor, micro, *version, NULLSTR(strflags));
     VIR_FREE(strflags);
@@ -2377,7 +2377,7 @@ virQEMUCapsClear(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 
 char *virQEMUCapsFlagsString(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps)
 {
-    return virBitmapToString(qemuCaps->flags, true);
+    return virBitmapToString(qemuCaps->flags, true, false);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.c b/src/util/virbitmap.c
index f5700a6424..b1c1236fd3 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.c
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.c
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@ int virBitmapGetBit(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b, bool *result)
  * virBitmapToString:
  * @bitmap: Pointer to bitmap
  * @prefix: Whether to prepend "0x"
+ * @trim: Whether to output only the minimum required characters
  *
  * Convert @bitmap to printable string.
  *
@@ -320,10 +321,14 @@ int virBitmapGetBit(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b, bool *result)
  */
 char *
 virBitmapToString(virBitmapPtr bitmap,
-                  bool prefix)
+                  bool prefix,
+                  bool trim)
 {
     virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
     size_t sz;
+    size_t len;
+    size_t diff;
+    char *ret = NULL;
 
     if (prefix)
         virBufferAddLit(&buf, "0x");
@@ -337,7 +342,28 @@ virBitmapToString(virBitmapPtr bitmap,
     }
 
     virBufferCheckError(&buf);
-    return virBufferContentAndReset(&buf);
+    ret = virBufferContentAndReset(&buf);
+    if (!ret)
+        return NULL;
+
+    if (!trim)
+        return ret;
+
+    if (bitmap->max_bit != bitmap->map_len * VIR_BITMAP_BITS_PER_UNIT) {
+        char *tmp = ret;
+
+        if (prefix)
+            tmp += 2;
+
+        len = strlen(tmp);
+        sz = VIR_DIV_UP(bitmap->max_bit, 4);
+        diff = len - sz;
+
+        if (diff)
+            memmove(tmp, tmp + diff, sz + 1);
+    }
+
+    return ret;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.h b/src/util/virbitmap.h
index 720b389cfe..02acb7519d 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.h
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.h
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ bool virBitmapIsBitSet(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b)
 int virBitmapGetBit(virBitmapPtr bitmap, size_t b, bool *result)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(3) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
-char *virBitmapToString(virBitmapPtr bitmap, bool prefix)
+char *virBitmapToString(virBitmapPtr bitmap, bool prefix, bool trim)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
 char *virBitmapFormat(virBitmapPtr bitmap);