diff --git a/migration/qemu-file.c b/migration/qemu-file.c
index 2ab2bf362d..e85f501f86 100644
--- a/migration/qemu-file.c
+++ b/migration/qemu-file.c
@@ -733,6 +733,19 @@ size_t qemu_get_counted_string(QEMUFile *f, char buf[256])
     return res == len ? res : 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Put a string with one preceding byte containing its length. The length of
+ * the string should be less than 256.
+ */
+void qemu_put_counted_string(QEMUFile *f, const char *str)
+{
+    size_t len = strlen(str);
+
+    assert(len < 256);
+    qemu_put_byte(f, len);
+    qemu_put_buffer(f, (const uint8_t *)str, len);
+}
+
 /*
  * Set the blocking state of the QEMUFile.
  * Note: On some transports the OS only keeps a single blocking state for
diff --git a/migration/qemu-file.h b/migration/qemu-file.h
index aae4e5ed36..f4f356ab12 100644
--- a/migration/qemu-file.h
+++ b/migration/qemu-file.h
@@ -174,4 +174,6 @@ size_t ram_control_save_page(QEMUFile *f, ram_addr_t block_offset,
                              ram_addr_t offset, size_t size,
                              uint64_t *bytes_sent);
 
+void qemu_put_counted_string(QEMUFile *f, const char *name);
+
 #endif