diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index aeec44068bea5c846afed672da5a38d468648a5b..daf4dd74fa74ec62c46c3032cfbaacbbe0ca4e9e 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -1993,6 +1993,7 @@ virStorageSourceInitChainElement;
 virStorageSourceIsEmpty;
 virStorageSourceIsLocalStorage;
 virStorageSourceNewFromBacking;
+virStorageSourceParseRBDColonString;
 virStorageSourcePoolDefFree;
 virStorageSourcePoolModeTypeFromString;
 virStorageSourcePoolModeTypeToString;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 641f85d332b54e75988c6347ed67183ee3cab4ae..21618b29cc8259e7d5af3403891e023cfe2cf13d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -2535,137 +2535,20 @@ qemuGetSecretString(virConnectPtr conn,
 }
 
 
-static int qemuAddRBDHost(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk, char *hostport)
+static int
+qemuParseRBDString(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk)
 {
-    char *port;
-    size_t skip;
-    char **parts;
-
-    if (VIR_EXPAND_N(disk->src->hosts, disk->src->nhosts, 1) < 0)
-        return -1;
-
-    if ((port = strchr(hostport, ']'))) {
-        /* ipv6, strip brackets */
-        hostport += 1;
-        skip = 3;
-    } else {
-        port = strstr(hostport, "\\:");
-        skip = 2;
-    }
-
-    if (port) {
-        *port = '\0';
-        port += skip;
-        if (VIR_STRDUP(disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts - 1].port, port) < 0)
-            goto error;
-    } else {
-        if (VIR_STRDUP(disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts - 1].port, "6789") < 0)
-            goto error;
-    }
-
-    parts = virStringSplit(hostport, "\\:", 0);
-    if (!parts)
-        goto error;
-    disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].name = virStringJoin((const char **)parts, ":");
-    virStringFreeList(parts);
-    if (!disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].name)
-        goto error;
+    char *source = disk->src->path;
+    int ret;
 
-    disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].transport = VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP;
-    disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].socket = NULL;
+    disk->src->path = NULL;
 
-    return 0;
+    ret = virStorageSourceParseRBDColonString(source, disk->src);
 
- error:
-    VIR_FREE(disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].port);
-    VIR_FREE(disk->src->hosts[disk->src->nhosts-1].name);
-    return -1;
+    VIR_FREE(source);
+    return ret;
 }
 
-/* disk->src initially has everything after the rbd: prefix */
-static int qemuParseRBDString(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk)
-{
-    char *options = NULL;
-    char *p, *e, *next;
-    virStorageAuthDefPtr authdef = NULL;
-
-    p = strchr(disk->src->path, ':');
-    if (p) {
-        if (VIR_STRDUP(options, p + 1) < 0)
-            goto error;
-        *p = '\0';
-    }
-
-    /* options */
-    if (!options)
-        return 0; /* all done */
-
-    p = options;
-    while (*p) {
-        /* find : delimiter or end of string */
-        for (e = p; *e && *e != ':'; ++e) {
-            if (*e == '\\') {
-                e++;
-                if (*e == '\0')
-                    break;
-            }
-        }
-        if (*e == '\0') {
-            next = e;    /* last kv pair */
-        } else {
-            next = e + 1;
-            *e = '\0';
-        }
-
-        if (STRPREFIX(p, "id=")) {
-            const char *secrettype;
-            /* formulate authdef for disk->src->auth */
-            if (VIR_ALLOC(authdef) < 0)
-                goto error;
-
-            if (VIR_STRDUP(authdef->username, p + strlen("id=")) < 0)
-                goto error;
-            secrettype = virSecretUsageTypeToString(VIR_SECRET_USAGE_TYPE_CEPH);
-            if (VIR_STRDUP(authdef->secrettype, secrettype) < 0)
-                goto error;
-            disk->src->auth = authdef;
-            authdef = NULL;
-
-            /* Cannot formulate a secretType (eg, usage or uuid) given
-             * what is provided.
-             */
-        }
-        if (STRPREFIX(p, "mon_host=")) {
-            char *h, *sep;
-
-            h = p + strlen("mon_host=");
-            while (h < e) {
-                for (sep = h; sep < e; ++sep) {
-                    if (*sep == '\\' && (sep[1] == ',' ||
-                                         sep[1] == ';' ||
-                                         sep[1] == ' ')) {
-                        *sep = '\0';
-                        sep += 2;
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-                if (qemuAddRBDHost(disk, h) < 0)
-                    goto error;
-
-                h = sep;
-            }
-        }
-
-        p = next;
-    }
-    VIR_FREE(options);
-    return 0;
-
- error:
-    VIR_FREE(options);
-    virStorageAuthDefFree(authdef);
-    return -1;
-}
 
 static int
 qemuParseDriveURIString(virDomainDiskDefPtr def, virURIPtr uri,
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 8ca2d8d9f95db37ce08df92c5018100a29ce98aa..0659c9fd7d5b90183da45ebffcf7a4336dae48a2 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -2208,6 +2208,151 @@ virStorageSourceParseBackingURI(virStorageSourcePtr src,
 }
 
 
+static int
+virStorageSourceRBDAddHost(virStorageSourcePtr src,
+                           char *hostport)
+{
+    char *port;
+    size_t skip;
+    char **parts;
+
+    if (VIR_EXPAND_N(src->hosts, src->nhosts, 1) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
+    if ((port = strchr(hostport, ']'))) {
+        /* ipv6, strip brackets */
+        hostport += 1;
+        skip = 3;
+    } else {
+        port = strstr(hostport, "\\:");
+        skip = 2;
+    }
+
+    if (port) {
+        *port = '\0';
+        port += skip;
+        if (VIR_STRDUP(src->hosts[src->nhosts - 1].port, port) < 0)
+            goto error;
+    } else {
+        if (VIR_STRDUP(src->hosts[src->nhosts - 1].port, "6789") < 0)
+            goto error;
+    }
+
+    parts = virStringSplit(hostport, "\\:", 0);
+    if (!parts)
+        goto error;
+    src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].name = virStringJoin((const char **)parts, ":");
+    virStringFreeList(parts);
+    if (!src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].name)
+        goto error;
+
+    src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].transport = VIR_STORAGE_NET_HOST_TRANS_TCP;
+    src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].socket = NULL;
+
+    return 0;
+
+ error:
+    VIR_FREE(src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].port);
+    VIR_FREE(src->hosts[src->nhosts-1].name);
+    return -1;
+}
+
+
+int
+virStorageSourceParseRBDColonString(const char *rbdstr,
+                                    virStorageSourcePtr src)
+{
+    char *options = NULL;
+    char *p, *e, *next;
+    virStorageAuthDefPtr authdef = NULL;
+
+    /* optionally skip the "rbd:" prefix if provided */
+    if (STRPREFIX(rbdstr, "rbd:"))
+        rbdstr += strlen("rbd:");
+
+    if (VIR_STRDUP(src->path, rbdstr) < 0)
+        goto error;
+
+    p = strchr(src->path, ':');
+    if (p) {
+        if (VIR_STRDUP(options, p + 1) < 0)
+            goto error;
+        *p = '\0';
+    }
+
+    /* options */
+    if (!options)
+        return 0; /* all done */
+
+    p = options;
+    while (*p) {
+        /* find : delimiter or end of string */
+        for (e = p; *e && *e != ':'; ++e) {
+            if (*e == '\\') {
+                e++;
+                if (*e == '\0')
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (*e == '\0') {
+            next = e;    /* last kv pair */
+        } else {
+            next = e + 1;
+            *e = '\0';
+        }
+
+        if (STRPREFIX(p, "id=")) {
+            /* formulate authdef for src->auth */
+            if (VIR_ALLOC(authdef) < 0)
+                goto error;
+
+            if (VIR_STRDUP(authdef->username, p + strlen("id=")) < 0)
+                goto error;
+
+            if (VIR_STRDUP(authdef->secrettype,
+                           virStorageAuthTypeToString(VIR_STORAGE_AUTH_TYPE_CEPHX)) < 0)
+                goto error;
+            src->auth = authdef;
+            authdef = NULL;
+
+            /* Cannot formulate a secretType (eg, usage or uuid) given
+             * what is provided.
+             */
+        }
+        if (STRPREFIX(p, "mon_host=")) {
+            char *h, *sep;
+
+            h = p + strlen("mon_host=");
+            while (h < e) {
+                for (sep = h; sep < e; ++sep) {
+                    if (*sep == '\\' && (sep[1] == ',' ||
+                                         sep[1] == ';' ||
+                                         sep[1] == ' ')) {
+                        *sep = '\0';
+                        sep += 2;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (virStorageSourceRBDAddHost(src, h) < 0)
+                    goto error;
+
+                h = sep;
+            }
+        }
+
+        p = next;
+    }
+    VIR_FREE(options);
+    return 0;
+
+ error:
+    VIR_FREE(options);
+    virStorageAuthDefFree(authdef);
+    return -1;
+}
+
+
 static int
 virStorageSourceParseBackingColon(virStorageSourcePtr src,
                                   const char *path)
diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.h b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
index 209036f6b8046d01e85a15de7dc6824a301dee26..cbff60c1d6d7962231a8b1342c549773bebb37fb 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.h
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.h
@@ -363,6 +363,10 @@ virStorageSourcePtr virStorageSourceCopy(const virStorageSource *src,
                                          bool backingChain)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 
+int virStorageSourceParseRBDColonString(const char *rbdstr,
+                                        virStorageSourcePtr src)
+    ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
+
 typedef int
 (*virStorageFileSimplifyPathReadlinkCallback)(const char *path,
                                               char **link,