diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index b202d02f98b31a77485af7b1b43281d6e16d6ba2..8aa082618315d50f785cb868d77aca8de813d3c6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -5625,7 +5625,23 @@ qemuDomainCheckRemoveOptionalDisk(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     qemuDomainEventQueue(driver, event);
 }
 
-static int
+
+/**
+ * qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy:
+ * @driver: qemu driver object
+ * @vm: domain object
+ * @disk: index of disk to check
+ * @cold_boot: true if a new VM is being started
+ *
+ * This function should be called when the source storage for a disk device is
+ * missing. The function checks whether the startup policy for the disk allows
+ * removal of the source (or disk) according to the state of the VM.
+ *
+ * The function returns 0 if the source or disk was dropped and -1 if the state
+ * of the VM does not allow this. This function does not report errors, but
+ * clears any reported error if 0 is returned.
+ */
+int
 qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                  virDomainObjPtr vm,
                                  size_t diskIndex,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
index 9632a9af8402b3d7531341d089b9cb5259332dc2..f3ffa62932ac618757dc43a50ded3cfac139428f 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.h
@@ -639,6 +639,11 @@ void qemuDomainSetFakeReboot(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
 bool qemuDomainJobAllowed(qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv,
                           qemuDomainJob job);
 
+int qemuDomainCheckDiskStartupPolicy(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                                     virDomainObjPtr vm,
+                                     size_t diskIndex,
+                                     bool cold_boot);
+
 int qemuDomainCheckDiskPresence(virConnectPtr conn,
                                 virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
                                 virDomainObjPtr vm,