diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_interface.c b/src/qemu/qemu_interface.c
index 72ed51cb1f8beb1bda76e6759e6c141894277bda..0e82831676ccded59c1642a40dd929bfa84e1403 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_interface.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_interface.c
@@ -612,6 +612,33 @@ qemuInterfaceBridgeConnect(virDomainDefPtr def,
 }
 
 
+qemuSlirpPtr
+qemuInterfacePrepareSlirp(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                          virDomainNetDefPtr net)
+{
+    virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg = virQEMUDriverGetConfig(driver);
+    VIR_AUTOPTR(qemuSlirp) slirp = NULL;
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (!(slirp = qemuSlirpNewForHelper(cfg->slirpHelperName)))
+        return NULL;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < net->guestIP.nips; i++) {
+        const virNetDevIPAddr *ip = net->guestIP.ips[i];
+
+        if (VIR_SOCKET_ADDR_IS_FAMILY(&ip->address, AF_INET) &&
+            !qemuSlirpHasFeature(slirp, QEMU_SLIRP_FEATURE_IPV4))
+            return NULL;
+
+        if (VIR_SOCKET_ADDR_IS_FAMILY(&ip->address, AF_INET6) &&
+            !qemuSlirpHasFeature(slirp, QEMU_SLIRP_FEATURE_IPV6))
+            return NULL;
+    }
+
+    VIR_RETURN_PTR(slirp);
+}
+
+
 /**
  * qemuInterfaceOpenVhostNet:
  * @def: domain definition
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_interface.h b/src/qemu/qemu_interface.h
index 5a2f87e53201b42ace29c91325cfbf6897729a7f..0464b903d79edf1a6c862d0aa3f9b0311ba6ba22 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_interface.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_interface.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "domain_conf.h"
 #include "qemu_conf.h"
 #include "qemu_domain.h"
+#include "qemu_slirp.h"
 
 int qemuInterfaceStartDevice(virDomainNetDefPtr net);
 int qemuInterfaceStartDevices(virDomainDefPtr def);
@@ -54,3 +55,6 @@ int qemuInterfaceOpenVhostNet(virDomainDefPtr def,
                               virDomainNetDefPtr net,
                               int *vhostfd,
                               size_t *vhostfdSize);
+
+qemuSlirpPtr qemuInterfacePrepareSlirp(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                                       virDomainNetDefPtr net);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 1dd67902635bc80b28f99e3692e91aa46653e620..1960f534665d49c7460ed5aa51f103c97c39ce2b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -5705,8 +5705,11 @@ qemuProcessInit(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
  * qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices
  */
 static int
-qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices(virDomainDefPtr def)
+qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
+                                 virDomainObjPtr vm)
 {
+    virDomainDefPtr def = vm->def;
+    qemuDomainObjPrivatePtr priv = vm->privateData;
     int ret = -1;
     size_t i;
     virConnectPtr conn = NULL;
@@ -5751,7 +5754,14 @@ qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices(virDomainDefPtr def)
             }
             if (virDomainHostdevInsert(def, hostdev) < 0)
                 goto cleanup;
-        }
+        } else if (actualType == VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_USER &&
+                   !priv->disableSlirp &&
+                   virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_NET_SOCKET_DGRAM)) {
+            qemuSlirpPtr slirp = qemuInterfacePrepareSlirp(driver, net);
+
+            QEMU_DOMAIN_NETWORK_PRIVATE(net)->slirp = slirp;
+         }
+
     }
     ret = 0;
  cleanup:
@@ -6552,7 +6562,7 @@ qemuProcessPrepareHost(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
      * will need to be setup.
      */
     VIR_DEBUG("Preparing network devices");
-    if (qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices(vm->def) < 0)
+    if (qemuProcessNetworkPrepareDevices(driver, vm) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     /* Must be run before security labelling */