diff --git a/tests/meson.build b/tests/meson.build
index f75c248720..4792220b48 100644
--- a/tests/meson.build
+++ b/tests/meson.build
@@ -452,6 +452,7 @@ if conf.has('WITH_QEMU')
     { 'name': 'qemuagenttest', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib, test_utils_qemu_monitor_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
     { 'name': 'qemublocktest', 'include': [ storage_file_inc_dir ], 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib, test_utils_qemu_monitor_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
     { 'name': 'qemucapabilitiestest', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib, test_utils_qemu_monitor_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
+    { 'name': 'qemucapabilitiesnumbering', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib, test_utils_qemu_monitor_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
     { 'name': 'qemucaps2xmltest', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
     { 'name': 'qemucommandutiltest', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib, test_utils_qemu_monitor_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
     { 'name': 'qemudomaincheckpointxml2xmltest', 'link_with': [ test_qemu_driver_lib ], 'link_whole': [ test_utils_qemu_lib ] },
diff --git a/tests/qemucapabilitiesnumbering.c b/tests/qemucapabilitiesnumbering.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eff7dbe2a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemucapabilitiesnumbering.c
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+/*
+ * qemucapabilitiesnumbering.c: swiss-army knife for qemu capability data manipulation
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "testutils.h"
+#include "testutilsqemu.h"
+#include "qemumonitortestutils.h"
+
+struct qmpTuple {
+    virJSONValue *command;
+    virJSONValue *reply;
+};
+
+struct qmpCommandList {
+    struct qmpTuple *items;
+    size_t nitems;
+};
+
+typedef struct qmpCommandList qmpCommandList;
+
+
+static int
+modify(struct qmpCommandList *list G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    /* in case you want to programmatically modify the replies file enable the
+     * following block and modify it to your needs. After compiling run this
+     * with:
+     *
+     * VIR_TEST_REGENERATE_OUTPUT=1 tests/qemucapabilitiesnumbering
+     *
+     * This applies the modification along with updating the files. Use git to
+     * your advantage to roll back mistakes.
+     */
+#if 0
+    struct qmpTuple tmptuple = { NULL, NULL };
+    size_t found = 0;
+    size_t i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < list->nitems; i++) {
+        struct qmpTuple *item = list->items + i;
+        const char *cmdname = virJSONValueObjectGetString(item->command, "execute");
+
+        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(cmdname, "qom-list-properties")) {
+            found = i;
+            // break; /* uncomment if you want to find the first occurence */
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (found == 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "entry not found!!!\n");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    tmptuple.command = virJSONValueFromString("{\"execute\":\"dummy\"}");
+    tmptuple.reply = virJSONValueFromString("{\"return\":{}}");
+    // tmptuple.reply = virTestLoadFileJSON("path/", "to/", "file.json");
+
+    ignore_value(VIR_INSERT_ELEMENT(list->items, found + 1, list->nitems, tmptuple));
+#endif
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+static void
+qmpCommandListFree(qmpCommandList* list)
+{
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (!list)
+        return;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < list->nitems; i++) {
+        struct qmpTuple *item = list->items + i;
+
+        virJSONValueFree(item->command);
+        virJSONValueFree(item->reply);
+    }
+
+    g_free(list->items);
+    g_free(list);
+}
+
+
+G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(qmpCommandList, qmpCommandListFree);
+
+
+static qmpCommandList *
+loadReplies(const char *filename)
+{
+    g_autofree char *replies = NULL;
+    g_autofree struct qemuMonitorTestCommandReplyTuple *items = NULL;
+    size_t nitems = 0;
+    g_autoptr(qmpCommandList) list = NULL;
+    size_t i;
+
+    if (virTestLoadFile(filename, &replies) < 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Failed to load '%s'\n", filename);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (qemuMonitorTestProcessFileEntries(replies, filename, &items, &nitems) < 0)
+        return NULL;
+
+    list = g_new0(qmpCommandList, 1);
+    list->items = g_new0(struct qmpTuple, nitems);
+
+    for (i = 0; i < nitems; i++) {
+        struct qemuMonitorTestCommandReplyTuple *item = items + i;
+
+        if (!(list->items[list->nitems].command = virJSONValueFromString(item->command)) ||
+            !(list->items[list->nitems++].reply = virJSONValueFromString(item->reply)))
+            return NULL;
+    }
+
+    return g_steal_pointer(&list);
+}
+
+/* see printLineSkipEmpty in tests/qemucapsprobemock.c */
+static void
+printLineSkipEmpty(const char *p,
+                   virBuffer *buf)
+{
+    for (; *p; p++) {
+        if (p[0] == '\n' && p[1] == '\n')
+            continue;
+
+        virBufferAddChar(buf, *p);
+    }
+}
+
+
+static void
+renumberItem(virJSONValue *val,
+             size_t num)
+{
+    g_autoptr(virJSONValue) label = virJSONValueNewString(g_strdup_printf("libvirt-%zu", num));
+
+    virJSONValueObjectReplaceValue(val, "id", &label);
+}
+
+
+static int
+output(virBuffer *buf,
+       qmpCommandList *list)
+{
+    size_t commandindex = 1;
+    size_t i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < list->nitems; i++) {
+        struct qmpTuple *item = list->items + i;
+        g_autofree char *jsoncommand = NULL;
+        g_autofree char *jsonreply = NULL;
+
+        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(virJSONValueObjectGetString(item->command, "execute"), "qmp_capabilities"))
+            commandindex = 1;
+
+        /* fix numbering */
+        renumberItem(item->command, commandindex);
+        renumberItem(item->reply, commandindex);
+        commandindex++;
+
+        /* output formatting */
+        if (!(jsoncommand = virJSONValueToString(item->command, true)) ||
+            !(jsonreply = virJSONValueToString(item->reply, true)))
+            return -1;
+
+        printLineSkipEmpty(jsoncommand, buf);
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "\n");
+        printLineSkipEmpty(jsonreply, buf);
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "\n");
+    }
+
+    virBufferTrim(buf, "\n");
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+static int
+testCapsFile(const void *opaque)
+{
+    const char *repliesFile = opaque;
+    g_autoptr(qmpCommandList) list = NULL;
+    g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+
+    if (!(list = loadReplies(repliesFile)))
+        return -1;
+
+    if (virTestGetRegenerate() > 0) {
+        if (modify(list) < 0)
+            return -1;
+    }
+
+    output(&buf, list);
+
+    if (virTestCompareToFile(virBufferCurrentContent(&buf), repliesFile) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+static int
+iterateCapsFile(const char *inputDir,
+                const char *prefix,
+                const char *version,
+                const char *archName,
+                const char *suffix,
+                void *opaque G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    g_autofree char *repliesFile = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s_%s.%s.%s", inputDir, prefix, version, archName, suffix);
+
+    return virTestRun(repliesFile, testCapsFile, repliesFile);
+}
+
+
+static int
+testmain(void)
+{
+    if (testQemuCapsIterate(".replies", iterateCapsFile, NULL) < 0)
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+
+    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+VIR_TEST_MAIN(testmain)