diff --git a/include/ui/qemu-spice.h b/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
index 5a78fd764d7e359c27d0ac549130ed92ac8fcbb0..eba6d77d1d8d013dc4609d9ba871bde837b98cc6 100644
--- a/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
+++ b/include/ui/qemu-spice.h
@@ -44,10 +44,13 @@ int qemu_spice_migrate_info(const char *hostname, int port, int tls_port,
 void do_info_spice_print(Monitor *mon, const QObject *data);
 void do_info_spice(Monitor *mon, QObject **ret_data);
 
-CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice(QemuOpts *opts);
+CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_vmc(const char *type);
 #if SPICE_SERVER_VERSION >= 0x000c02
-CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_port(QemuOpts *opts);
+CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_port(const char *name);
 void qemu_spice_register_ports(void);
+#else
+static inline CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_port(const char *name)
+{ return NULL; }
 #endif
 
 #else  /* CONFIG_SPICE */
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index 7ea32ed415eef4730109ae180c0d54401e1ca96c..dad4d4aed1b44dfe888820d1d1fa72dac75c863e 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -3208,6 +3208,28 @@
 ##
 { 'type': 'ChardevStdio', 'data': { '*signal' : 'bool' } }
 
+##
+# @ChardevSpiceChannel:
+#
+# Configuration info for spice vm channel chardevs.
+#
+# @type: kind of channel (for example vdagent).
+#
+# Since: 1.5
+##
+{ 'type': 'ChardevSpiceChannel', 'data': { 'type'  : 'str' } }
+
+##
+# @ChardevSpicePort:
+#
+# Configuration info for spice port chardevs.
+#
+# @fqdn: name of the channel (see docs/spice-port-fqdn.txt)
+#
+# Since: 1.5
+##
+{ 'type': 'ChardevSpicePort', 'data': { 'fqdn'  : 'str' } }
+
 ##
 # @ChardevBackend:
 #
@@ -3228,7 +3250,9 @@
                                        'msmouse': 'ChardevDummy',
                                        'braille': 'ChardevDummy',
                                        'stdio'  : 'ChardevStdio',
-                                       'console': 'ChardevDummy' } }
+                                       'console': 'ChardevDummy',
+                                       'spicevmc' : 'ChardevSpiceChannel',
+                                       'spiceport' : 'ChardevSpicePort' } }
 
 ##
 # @ChardevReturn:
diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index 427901c0c582fd45fea49b52490f027d668907c2..f13374770a6777fed0f3bb79cb6a49020b141f73 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -3728,6 +3728,14 @@ ChardevReturn *qmp_chardev_add(const char *id, ChardevBackend *backend,
     case CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_CONSOLE:
         chr = qemu_chr_open_win_con();
         break;
+#endif
+#ifdef CONFIG_SPICE
+    case CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_SPICEVMC:
+        chr = qemu_chr_open_spice_vmc(backend->spicevmc->type);
+        break;
+    case CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_SPICEPORT:
+        chr = qemu_chr_open_spice_port(backend->spiceport->fqdn);
+        break;
 #endif
     default:
         error_setg(errp, "unknown chardev backend (%d)", backend->kind);
diff --git a/spice-qemu-char.c b/spice-qemu-char.c
index aea3d24e7d084984d414492b84f0babff7afca35..0c92ca850b56d7632d0d04224c647d8066817d36 100644
--- a/spice-qemu-char.c
+++ b/spice-qemu-char.c
@@ -217,16 +217,14 @@ static void print_allowed_subtypes(void)
     fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 }
 
-static CharDriverState *chr_open(QemuOpts *opts, const char *subtype)
+static CharDriverState *chr_open(const char *subtype)
 {
     CharDriverState *chr;
     SpiceCharDriver *s;
-    uint32_t debug = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "debug", 0);
 
     chr = g_malloc0(sizeof(CharDriverState));
     s = g_malloc0(sizeof(SpiceCharDriver));
     s->chr = chr;
-    s->debug = debug;
     s->active = false;
     s->sin.subtype = subtype;
     chr->opaque = s;
@@ -240,35 +238,32 @@ static CharDriverState *chr_open(QemuOpts *opts, const char *subtype)
     return chr;
 }
 
-CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice(QemuOpts *opts)
+CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_vmc(const char *type)
 {
     CharDriverState *chr;
-    const char *name = qemu_opt_get(opts, "name");
     const char **psubtype = spice_server_char_device_recognized_subtypes();
-    const char *subtype = NULL;
 
-    if (name == NULL) {
+    if (type == NULL) {
         fprintf(stderr, "spice-qemu-char: missing name parameter\n");
         print_allowed_subtypes();
         return NULL;
     }
-    for(;*psubtype != NULL; ++psubtype) {
-        if (strcmp(name, *psubtype) == 0) {
-            subtype = *psubtype;
+    for (; *psubtype != NULL; ++psubtype) {
+        if (strcmp(type, *psubtype) == 0) {
             break;
         }
     }
-    if (subtype == NULL) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "spice-qemu-char: unsupported name: %s\n", name);
+    if (*psubtype == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "spice-qemu-char: unsupported type: %s\n", type);
         print_allowed_subtypes();
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    chr = chr_open(opts, subtype);
+    chr = chr_open(type);
 
 #if SPICE_SERVER_VERSION < 0x000901
     /* See comment in vmc_state() */
-    if (strcmp(subtype, "vdagent") == 0) {
+    if (strcmp(type, "vdagent") == 0) {
         qemu_chr_generic_open(chr);
     }
 #endif
@@ -277,18 +272,17 @@ CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice(QemuOpts *opts)
 }
 
 #if SPICE_SERVER_VERSION >= 0x000c02
-CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_port(QemuOpts *opts)
+CharDriverState *qemu_chr_open_spice_port(const char *name)
 {
     CharDriverState *chr;
     SpiceCharDriver *s;
-    const char *name = qemu_opt_get(opts, "name");
 
     if (name == NULL) {
         fprintf(stderr, "spice-qemu-char: missing name parameter\n");
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    chr = chr_open(opts, "port");
+    chr = chr_open("port");
     s = chr->opaque;
     s->sin.portname = name;
 
@@ -308,12 +302,38 @@ void qemu_spice_register_ports(void)
 }
 #endif
 
+static void qemu_chr_parse_spice_vmc(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
+                                     Error **errp)
+{
+    const char *name = qemu_opt_get(opts, "name");
+
+    if (name == NULL) {
+        error_setg(errp, "chardev: spice channel: no name given");
+        return;
+    }
+    backend->spicevmc = g_new0(ChardevSpiceChannel, 1);
+    backend->spicevmc->type = g_strdup(name);
+}
+
+static void qemu_chr_parse_spice_port(QemuOpts *opts, ChardevBackend *backend,
+                                      Error **errp)
+{
+    const char *name = qemu_opt_get(opts, "name");
+
+    if (name == NULL) {
+        error_setg(errp, "chardev: spice port: no name given");
+        return;
+    }
+    backend->spiceport = g_new0(ChardevSpicePort, 1);
+    backend->spiceport->fqdn = g_strdup(name);
+}
+
 static void register_types(void)
 {
-    register_char_driver("spicevmc", qemu_chr_open_spice);
-#if SPICE_SERVER_VERSION >= 0x000c02
-    register_char_driver("spiceport", qemu_chr_open_spice_port);
-#endif
+    register_char_driver_qapi("spicevmc", CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_SPICEVMC,
+                              qemu_chr_parse_spice_vmc);
+    register_char_driver_qapi("spiceport", CHARDEV_BACKEND_KIND_SPICEPORT,
+                              qemu_chr_parse_spice_port);
 }
 
 type_init(register_types);