diff --git a/hw/pci/pci.c b/hw/pci/pci.c
index 208c16f450..cc51f98593 100644
--- a/hw/pci/pci.c
+++ b/hw/pci/pci.c
@@ -1789,7 +1789,6 @@ PCIDevice *pci_nic_init_nofail(NICInfo *nd, PCIBus *rootbus,
                                const char *default_devaddr)
 {
     const char *devaddr = nd->devaddr ? nd->devaddr : default_devaddr;
-    GSList *list;
     GPtrArray *pci_nic_models;
     PCIBus *bus;
     PCIDevice *pci_dev;
@@ -1804,33 +1803,7 @@ PCIDevice *pci_nic_init_nofail(NICInfo *nd, PCIBus *rootbus,
         nd->model = g_strdup("virtio-net-pci");
     }
 
-    list = object_class_get_list_sorted(TYPE_PCI_DEVICE, false);
-    pci_nic_models = g_ptr_array_new();
-    while (list) {
-        DeviceClass *dc = OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(DeviceClass, list->data,
-                                             TYPE_DEVICE);
-        GSList *next;
-        if (test_bit(DEVICE_CATEGORY_NETWORK, dc->categories) &&
-            dc->user_creatable) {
-            const char *name = object_class_get_name(list->data);
-            /*
-             * A network device might also be something else than a NIC, see
-             * e.g. the "rocker" device. Thus we have to look for the "netdev"
-             * property, too. Unfortunately, some devices like virtio-net only
-             * create this property during instance_init, so we have to create
-             * a temporary instance here to be able to check it.
-             */
-            Object *obj = object_new_with_class(OBJECT_CLASS(dc));
-            if (object_property_find(obj, "netdev")) {
-                g_ptr_array_add(pci_nic_models, (gpointer)name);
-            }
-            object_unref(obj);
-        }
-        next = list->next;
-        g_slist_free_1(list);
-        list = next;
-    }
-    g_ptr_array_add(pci_nic_models, NULL);
+    pci_nic_models = qemu_get_nic_models(TYPE_PCI_DEVICE);
 
     if (qemu_show_nic_models(nd->model, (const char **)pci_nic_models->pdata)) {
         exit(0);
diff --git a/include/net/net.h b/include/net/net.h
index fad589cc1d..1d88621c12 100644
--- a/include/net/net.h
+++ b/include/net/net.h
@@ -203,6 +203,20 @@ void net_socket_rs_init(SocketReadState *rs,
                         bool vnet_hdr);
 NetClientState *qemu_get_peer(NetClientState *nc, int queue_index);
 
+/**
+ * qemu_get_nic_models:
+ * @device_type: Defines which devices should be taken into consideration
+ *               (e.g. TYPE_DEVICE for all devices, or TYPE_PCI_DEVICE for PCI)
+ *
+ * Get an array of pointers to names of NIC devices that are available in
+ * the QEMU binary. The array is terminated with a NULL pointer entry.
+ * The caller is responsible for freeing the memory when it is not required
+ * anymore, e.g. with g_ptr_array_free(..., true).
+ *
+ * Returns: Pointer to the array that contains the pointers to the names.
+ */
+GPtrArray *qemu_get_nic_models(const char *device_type);
+
 /* NIC info */
 
 #define MAX_NICS 8
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 251fc5ab55..476a4b71cc 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -899,6 +899,40 @@ static int nic_get_free_idx(void)
     return -1;
 }
 
+GPtrArray *qemu_get_nic_models(const char *device_type)
+{
+    GPtrArray *nic_models = g_ptr_array_new();
+    GSList *list = object_class_get_list_sorted(device_type, false);
+
+    while (list) {
+        DeviceClass *dc = OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(DeviceClass, list->data,
+                                             TYPE_DEVICE);
+        GSList *next;
+        if (test_bit(DEVICE_CATEGORY_NETWORK, dc->categories) &&
+            dc->user_creatable) {
+            const char *name = object_class_get_name(list->data);
+            /*
+             * A network device might also be something else than a NIC, see
+             * e.g. the "rocker" device. Thus we have to look for the "netdev"
+             * property, too. Unfortunately, some devices like virtio-net only
+             * create this property during instance_init, so we have to create
+             * a temporary instance here to be able to check it.
+             */
+            Object *obj = object_new_with_class(OBJECT_CLASS(dc));
+            if (object_property_find(obj, "netdev")) {
+                g_ptr_array_add(nic_models, (gpointer)name);
+            }
+            object_unref(obj);
+        }
+        next = list->next;
+        g_slist_free_1(list);
+        list = next;
+    }
+    g_ptr_array_add(nic_models, NULL);
+
+    return nic_models;
+}
+
 int qemu_show_nic_models(const char *arg, const char *const *models)
 {
     int i;