diff --git a/event_notifier.c b/event_notifier.c
index c339bfee5042257b4982fb07da3343d9c1348959..99c376c6a34b8ee6661772451df92bdb2187f072 100644
--- a/event_notifier.c
+++ b/event_notifier.c
@@ -10,11 +10,18 @@
  * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
  */
 
+#include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "event_notifier.h"
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_EVENTFD
 #include <sys/eventfd.h>
 #endif
 
+void event_notifier_init_fd(EventNotifier *e, int fd)
+{
+    e->fd = fd;
+}
+
 int event_notifier_init(EventNotifier *e, int active)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_EVENTFD
diff --git a/event_notifier.h b/event_notifier.h
index 9b2edf41a74c3337f2fe5e58e352ff1270db30c9..fd3d9427b5fbed82c0fcbf3f79f8e0468cf1fd88 100644
--- a/event_notifier.h
+++ b/event_notifier.h
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 
 struct EventNotifier {
-	int fd;
+    int fd;
 };
 
+void event_notifier_init_fd(EventNotifier *, int fd);
 int event_notifier_init(EventNotifier *, int active);
 void event_notifier_cleanup(EventNotifier *);
 int event_notifier_get_fd(EventNotifier *);