diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index 54eea8b7f1..c5954edaf0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1663,15 +1663,24 @@ virQEMUCapsSet(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
 }
 
 
+void
+virQEMUCapsSetVAList(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                     va_list list)
+{
+    int flag;
+
+    while ((flag = va_arg(list, int)) < QEMU_CAPS_LAST)
+        ignore_value(virBitmapSetBit(qemuCaps->flags, flag));
+}
+
+
 void
 virQEMUCapsSetList(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps, ...)
 {
     va_list list;
-    int flag;
 
     va_start(list, qemuCaps);
-    while ((flag = va_arg(list, int)) < QEMU_CAPS_LAST)
-        ignore_value(virBitmapSetBit(qemuCaps->flags, flag));
+    virQEMUCapsSetVAList(qemuCaps, list);
     va_end(list);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index 06c7606e2f..7625d754a3 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -518,6 +518,8 @@ virQEMUCapsPtr virQEMUCapsNew(void);
 void virQEMUCapsSet(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
                     virQEMUCapsFlags flag) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 
+void virQEMUCapsSetVAList(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,
+                          va_list list) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(2);
 void virQEMUCapsSetList(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps, ...) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
 
 void virQEMUCapsClear(virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps,