diff --git a/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h b/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
index 6d9a4be3a5fc0afb97c97f63073b6b89f6c205fb..685b2e3fcbb714b297d2b6b6c683c68a39819f38 100644
--- a/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
+++ b/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
@@ -64,4 +64,6 @@ int64_t qdict_get_try_int(const QDict *qdict, const char *key,
 int qdict_get_try_bool(const QDict *qdict, const char *key, int def_value);
 const char *qdict_get_try_str(const QDict *qdict, const char *key);
 
+QDict *qdict_clone_shallow(const QDict *src);
+
 #endif /* QDICT_H */
diff --git a/qobject/qdict.c b/qobject/qdict.c
index 7543ccc10ff8d9d3343b157c1f2b3dac77546007..ed381f9a507f7248b7afae4ab259abcb51ff5970 100644
--- a/qobject/qdict.c
+++ b/qobject/qdict.c
@@ -400,6 +400,28 @@ const QDictEntry *qdict_next(const QDict *qdict, const QDictEntry *entry)
     return ret;
 }
 
+/**
+ * qdict_clone_shallow(): Clones a given QDict. Its entries are not copied, but
+ * another reference is added.
+ */
+QDict *qdict_clone_shallow(const QDict *src)
+{
+    QDict *dest;
+    QDictEntry *entry;
+    int i;
+
+    dest = qdict_new();
+
+    for (i = 0; i < QDICT_BUCKET_MAX; i++) {
+        QLIST_FOREACH(entry, &src->table[i], next) {
+            qobject_incref(entry->value);
+            qdict_put_obj(dest, entry->key, entry->value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return dest;
+}
+
 /**
  * qentry_destroy(): Free all the memory allocated by a QDictEntry
  */