diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index cac49957b6..a3b78ad353 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -529,6 +529,7 @@ ifaceCtrl;
 ifaceGetFlags;
 ifaceGetIndex;
 ifaceGetMacAddress;
+ifaceGetIPAddress;
 ifaceGetNthParent;
 ifaceGetVlanID;
 ifaceIsUp;
diff --git a/src/util/interface.c b/src/util/interface.c
index 72c7f3d134..f5eecfb8b6 100644
--- a/src/util/interface.c
+++ b/src/util/interface.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#include <netinet/in.h>
 
 #ifdef __linux__
 # include <linux/if.h>
@@ -511,6 +512,65 @@ ifaceSetMacAddress(const char *ifname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 #endif /* __linux__ */
 
 
+/**
+ * ifaceGetIPAddress:
+ * @ifname: name of the interface whose IP address we want
+ * @macaddr: MAC address (VIR_MAC_BUFLEN in size)
+ *
+ * This function gets the @macaddr for a given interface @ifname.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success, -errno on failure.
+ */
+#ifdef __linux__
+int
+ifaceGetIPAddress(const char *ifname,
+                  virSocketAddrPtr addr)
+{
+    struct ifreq ifr;
+    int fd;
+    int rc = 0;
+
+    if (!ifname || !addr)
+        return -EINVAL;
+
+    memset (addr, 0, sizeof(*addr));
+    addr->data.stor.ss_family = AF_UNSPEC;
+
+    fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    if (fd < 0)
+        return -errno;
+
+    memset(&ifr, 0, sizeof(struct ifreq));
+    if (virStrcpyStatic(ifr.ifr_name, ifname) == NULL) {
+        rc = -EINVAL;
+        goto err_exit;
+    }
+
+    if (ioctl(fd, SIOCGIFADDR, (char *)&ifr) != 0) {
+        rc = -errno;
+        goto err_exit;
+    }
+
+    addr->data.stor.ss_family = AF_INET;
+    addr->len = sizeof(addr->data.inet4);
+    memcpy(&addr->data.inet4, &ifr.ifr_addr, addr->len);
+
+err_exit:
+    VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(fd);
+    return rc;
+}
+
+#else
+
+int
+ifaceGetIPAddress(const char *ifname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
+                  virSocketAddrPtr addr ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
+{
+    return -ENOSYS;
+}
+
+#endif /* __linux__ */
+
 /**
  * ifaceLinkAdd
  *
diff --git a/src/util/interface.h b/src/util/interface.h
index 5cbf5c182b..9647653947 100644
--- a/src/util/interface.h
+++ b/src/util/interface.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ struct nlattr;
 # endif
 
 # include "datatypes.h"
+# include "network.h"
 
 int ifaceGetFlags(const char *name, short *flags);
 int ifaceIsUp(const char *name, bool *up);
@@ -49,6 +50,8 @@ int ifaceSetMacAddress(const char *ifname, const unsigned char *macaddr);
 
 int ifaceGetMacAddress(const char *ifname, unsigned char *macaddr);
 
+int ifaceGetIPAddress(const char *ifname, virSocketAddrPtr addr);
+
 int ifaceMacvtapLinkAdd(const char *type,
                         const unsigned char *macaddress, int macaddrsize,
                         const char *ifname,