diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 907640b684..3608f73b4e 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -3334,6 +3334,7 @@ virTypedParamsValidate;
 virURIFormat;
 virURIFormatParams;
 virURIFree;
+virURIGetParam;
 virURIParse;
 virURIResolveAlias;
 
diff --git a/src/util/viruri.c b/src/util/viruri.c
index 1b848bd336..f16ea16ac1 100644
--- a/src/util/viruri.c
+++ b/src/util/viruri.c
@@ -376,3 +376,19 @@ virURIResolveAlias(virConfPtr conf, const char *alias, char **uri)
 
     return ret;
 }
+
+
+const char *
+virURIGetParam(virURIPtr uri, const char *name)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < uri->paramsCount; i++) {
+        if (STREQ(uri->params[i].name, name))
+            return uri->params[i].value;
+    }
+
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
+                   _("Missing URI parameter '%s'"), name);
+    return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/viruri.h b/src/util/viruri.h
index b7f845f41f..1735620a2f 100644
--- a/src/util/viruri.h
+++ b/src/util/viruri.h
@@ -62,4 +62,6 @@ void virURIFree(virURIPtr uri);
 G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(virURI, virURIFree);
 int virURIResolveAlias(virConfPtr conf, const char *alias, char **uri);
 
+const char *virURIGetParam(virURIPtr uri, const char *name);
+
 #define VIR_URI_SERVER(uri) ((uri) && (uri)->server ? (uri)->server : "localhost")