diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
index 85732621a5b05a5620b20bee576cee825eb626d6..e593642f505b61ef70acbafd133f07921b145793 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.c
@@ -1122,6 +1122,27 @@ int qemuMonitorGetCPUInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
     return ret;
 }
 
+
+int qemuMonitorGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                           int *virtType)
+{
+    int ret;
+    VIR_DEBUG("mon=%p", mon);
+
+    if (!mon) {
+        qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, "%s",
+                        _("monitor must not be NULL"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (mon->json)
+        ret = qemuMonitorJSONGetVirtType(mon, virtType);
+    else
+        ret = qemuMonitorTextGetVirtType(mon, virtType);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 int qemuMonitorGetBalloonInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                               unsigned long *currmem)
 {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
index cb8f799e079ba04867c6e73f583beb055cdd4ee6..893f3e9c156b0f83f61532446cf3f63c56899594 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor.h
@@ -191,6 +191,8 @@ int qemuMonitorSystemPowerdown(qemuMonitorPtr mon);
 
 int qemuMonitorGetCPUInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                           int **pids);
+int qemuMonitorGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                           int *virtType);
 int qemuMonitorGetBalloonInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                               unsigned long *currmem);
 int qemuMonitorGetMemoryStats(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index 81b7f8c8c527fcd95d4184fbbb8707f6b969f121..4db2b78ebc91e7de62f85ca0299916abbb53e9a6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -1042,6 +1042,52 @@ int qemuMonitorJSONGetCPUInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
 }
 
 
+int qemuMonitorJSONGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               int *virtType)
+{
+    int ret;
+    virJSONValuePtr cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("query-kvm",
+                                                     NULL);
+    virJSONValuePtr reply = NULL;
+
+    *virtType = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU;
+
+    if (!cmd)
+        return -1;
+
+    ret = qemuMonitorJSONCommand(mon, cmd, &reply);
+
+    if (ret == 0)
+        ret = qemuMonitorJSONCheckError(cmd, reply);
+
+    if (ret == 0) {
+        virJSONValuePtr data;
+        bool val = false;
+
+        if (!(data = virJSONValueObjectGet(reply, "return"))) {
+            qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                            _("info kvm reply was missing return data"));
+            ret = -1;
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+
+        if (virJSONValueObjectGetBoolean(data, "enabled", &val) < 0) {
+            qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                            _("info kvm reply missing 'running' field"));
+            ret = -1;
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+        if (val)
+            *virtType = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM;
+    }
+
+cleanup:
+    virJSONValueFree(cmd);
+    virJSONValueFree(reply);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * Returns: 0 if balloon not supported, +1 if balloon query worked
  * or -1 on failure
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
index c571adb8d38ec7b733993a25f36b62469717b2d6..380e26afa0edac6d95488211f1c29d87f5a1ce27 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.h
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ int qemuMonitorJSONSystemReset(qemuMonitorPtr mon);
 
 int qemuMonitorJSONGetCPUInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                               int **pids);
+int qemuMonitorJSONGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               int *virtType);
 int qemuMonitorJSONGetBalloonInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                   unsigned long *currmem);
 int qemuMonitorJSONGetMemoryStats(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
index aa5d1c6eb84c1b111abf1aae76fde552bfe903f4..0965a0886abb533f2d0d853a686304bfccc513a2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
@@ -512,6 +512,28 @@ error:
     return 0;
 }
 
+
+int qemuMonitorTextGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               int *virtType)
+{
+    char *reply = NULL;
+
+    *virtType = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_QEMU;
+
+    if (qemuMonitorHMPCommand(mon, "info kvm", &reply) < 0) {
+        qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,
+                        "%s", _("could not query kvm status"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (strstr(reply, "enabled"))
+        *virtType = VIR_DOMAIN_VIRT_KVM;
+
+    VIR_FREE(reply);
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
 static int parseMemoryStat(char **text, unsigned int tag,
                            const char *search, virDomainMemoryStatPtr stat)
 {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.h b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.h
index 2d9288f50c8fd446a800918c75e0939258734883..e53f69352b2b17ae16284ee335676d5353b9723d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.h
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ int qemuMonitorTextSystemReset(qemuMonitorPtr mon);
 
 int qemuMonitorTextGetCPUInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                               int **pids);
+int qemuMonitorTextGetVirtType(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
+                               int *virtType);
 int qemuMonitorTextGetBalloonInfo(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
                                   unsigned long *currmem);
 int qemuMonitorTextGetMemoryStats(qemuMonitorPtr mon,