diff --git a/include/io/channel-watch.h b/include/io/channel-watch.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..656358ad64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/io/channel-watch.h
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU I/O channels watch helper APIs
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * 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 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 .
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef QIO_CHANNEL_WATCH_H__
+#define QIO_CHANNEL_WATCH_H__
+
+#include "io/channel.h"
+
+/*
+ * This module provides helper functions that will be needed by
+ * the various QIOChannel implementations, for creating watches
+ * on file descriptors / sockets
+ */
+
+/**
+ * qio_channel_create_fd_watch:
+ * @ioc: the channel object
+ * @fd: the file descriptor
+ * @condition: the I/O condition
+ *
+ * Create a new main loop source that is able to
+ * monitor the file descriptor @fd for the
+ * I/O conditions in @condition. This is able
+ * monitor block devices, character devices,
+ * sockets, pipes but not plain files.
+ *
+ * Returns: the new main loop source
+ */
+GSource *qio_channel_create_fd_watch(QIOChannel *ioc,
+ int fd,
+ GIOCondition condition);
+
+/**
+ * qio_channel_create_fd_pair_watch:
+ * @ioc: the channel object
+ * @fdread: the file descriptor for reading
+ * @fdwrite: the file descriptor for writing
+ * @condition: the I/O condition
+ *
+ * Create a new main loop source that is able to
+ * monitor the pair of file descriptors @fdread
+ * and @fdwrite for the I/O conditions in @condition.
+ * This is intended for monitoring unidirectional
+ * file descriptors such as pipes, where a pair
+ * of descriptors is required for bidirectional
+ * I/O
+ *
+ * Returns: the new main loop source
+ */
+GSource *qio_channel_create_fd_pair_watch(QIOChannel *ioc,
+ int fdread,
+ int fdwrite,
+ GIOCondition condition);
+
+#endif /* QIO_CHANNEL_WATCH_H__ */
diff --git a/io/Makefile.objs b/io/Makefile.objs
index a6ed3619b4..b02ea908ef 100644
--- a/io/Makefile.objs
+++ b/io/Makefile.objs
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
io-obj-y = channel.o
+io-obj-y += channel-watch.o
diff --git a/io/channel-watch.c b/io/channel-watch.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f745f16c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/io/channel-watch.c
@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU I/O channels watch helper APIs
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * 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 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 .
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "io/channel-watch.h"
+
+typedef struct QIOChannelFDSource QIOChannelFDSource;
+struct QIOChannelFDSource {
+ GSource parent;
+ GPollFD fd;
+ QIOChannel *ioc;
+ GIOCondition condition;
+};
+
+
+typedef struct QIOChannelFDPairSource QIOChannelFDPairSource;
+struct QIOChannelFDPairSource {
+ GSource parent;
+ GPollFD fdread;
+ GPollFD fdwrite;
+ QIOChannel *ioc;
+ GIOCondition condition;
+};
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_source_prepare(GSource *source G_GNUC_UNUSED,
+ gint *timeout)
+{
+ *timeout = -1;
+
+ return FALSE;
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_source_check(GSource *source)
+{
+ QIOChannelFDSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDSource *)source;
+
+ return ssource->fd.revents & ssource->condition;
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_source_dispatch(GSource *source,
+ GSourceFunc callback,
+ gpointer user_data)
+{
+ QIOChannelFunc func = (QIOChannelFunc)callback;
+ QIOChannelFDSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDSource *)source;
+
+ return (*func)(ssource->ioc,
+ ssource->fd.revents & ssource->condition,
+ user_data);
+}
+
+
+static void
+qio_channel_fd_source_finalize(GSource *source)
+{
+ QIOChannelFDSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDSource *)source;
+
+ object_unref(OBJECT(ssource->ioc));
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_pair_source_prepare(GSource *source G_GNUC_UNUSED,
+ gint *timeout)
+{
+ *timeout = -1;
+
+ return FALSE;
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_pair_source_check(GSource *source)
+{
+ QIOChannelFDPairSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDPairSource *)source;
+ GIOCondition poll_condition = ssource->fdread.revents |
+ ssource->fdwrite.revents;
+
+ return poll_condition & ssource->condition;
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+qio_channel_fd_pair_source_dispatch(GSource *source,
+ GSourceFunc callback,
+ gpointer user_data)
+{
+ QIOChannelFunc func = (QIOChannelFunc)callback;
+ QIOChannelFDPairSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDPairSource *)source;
+ GIOCondition poll_condition = ssource->fdread.revents |
+ ssource->fdwrite.revents;
+
+ return (*func)(ssource->ioc,
+ poll_condition & ssource->condition,
+ user_data);
+}
+
+
+static void
+qio_channel_fd_pair_source_finalize(GSource *source)
+{
+ QIOChannelFDPairSource *ssource = (QIOChannelFDPairSource *)source;
+
+ object_unref(OBJECT(ssource->ioc));
+}
+
+
+GSourceFuncs qio_channel_fd_source_funcs = {
+ qio_channel_fd_source_prepare,
+ qio_channel_fd_source_check,
+ qio_channel_fd_source_dispatch,
+ qio_channel_fd_source_finalize
+};
+
+
+GSourceFuncs qio_channel_fd_pair_source_funcs = {
+ qio_channel_fd_pair_source_prepare,
+ qio_channel_fd_pair_source_check,
+ qio_channel_fd_pair_source_dispatch,
+ qio_channel_fd_pair_source_finalize
+};
+
+
+GSource *qio_channel_create_fd_watch(QIOChannel *ioc,
+ int fd,
+ GIOCondition condition)
+{
+ GSource *source;
+ QIOChannelFDSource *ssource;
+
+ source = g_source_new(&qio_channel_fd_source_funcs,
+ sizeof(QIOChannelFDSource));
+ ssource = (QIOChannelFDSource *)source;
+
+ ssource->ioc = ioc;
+ object_ref(OBJECT(ioc));
+
+ ssource->condition = condition;
+
+ ssource->fd.fd = fd;
+ ssource->fd.events = condition;
+
+ g_source_add_poll(source, &ssource->fd);
+
+ return source;
+}
+
+
+GSource *qio_channel_create_fd_pair_watch(QIOChannel *ioc,
+ int fdread,
+ int fdwrite,
+ GIOCondition condition)
+{
+ GSource *source;
+ QIOChannelFDPairSource *ssource;
+
+ source = g_source_new(&qio_channel_fd_pair_source_funcs,
+ sizeof(QIOChannelFDPairSource));
+ ssource = (QIOChannelFDPairSource *)source;
+
+ ssource->ioc = ioc;
+ object_ref(OBJECT(ioc));
+
+ ssource->condition = condition;
+
+ ssource->fdread.fd = fdread;
+ ssource->fdread.events = condition & G_IO_IN;
+
+ ssource->fdwrite.fd = fdwrite;
+ ssource->fdwrite.events = condition & G_IO_OUT;
+
+ g_source_add_poll(source, &ssource->fdread);
+ g_source_add_poll(source, &ssource->fdwrite);
+
+ return source;
+}