diff --git a/Makefile.objs b/Makefile.objs
index 857bb53ae4..ac1d0e1c28 100644
--- a/Makefile.objs
+++ b/Makefile.objs
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ libcacard-y += libcacard/vcardt.o
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_SOFTMMU),y)
 common-obj-y = $(block-obj-y) blockdev.o blockdev-nbd.o block/
 common-obj-y += net/
-common-obj-y += readline.o
 common-obj-y += qdev-monitor.o device-hotplug.o
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_WIN32) += os-win32.o
 common-obj-$(CONFIG_POSIX) += os-posix.o
diff --git a/include/monitor/monitor.h b/include/monitor/monitor.h
index 22d8b8f3e0..7e5f752b7a 100644
--- a/include/monitor/monitor.h
+++ b/include/monitor/monitor.h
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include "qapi/qmp/qerror.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qdict.h"
 #include "block/block.h"
-#include "monitor/readline.h"
+#include "qemu/readline.h"
 
 extern Monitor *cur_mon;
 extern Monitor *default_mon;
diff --git a/include/monitor/readline.h b/include/qemu/readline.h
similarity index 100%
rename from include/monitor/readline.h
rename to include/qemu/readline.h
diff --git a/monitor.c b/monitor.c
index 32d02640a0..80456fbe5b 100644
--- a/monitor.c
+++ b/monitor.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #include "ui/qemu-spice.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "monitor/monitor.h"
-#include "monitor/readline.h"
+#include "qemu/readline.h"
 #include "ui/console.h"
 #include "sysemu/blockdev.h"
 #include "audio/audio.h"
diff --git a/util/Makefile.objs b/util/Makefile.objs
index af3e5cb157..937376b082 100644
--- a/util/Makefile.objs
+++ b/util/Makefile.objs
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ util-obj-y += hexdump.o
 util-obj-y += crc32c.o
 util-obj-y += throttle.o
 util-obj-y += getauxval.o
+util-obj-y += readline.o
diff --git a/readline.c b/util/readline.c
similarity index 99%
rename from readline.c
rename to util/readline.c
index ca894d1854..8441be484c 100644
--- a/readline.c
+++ b/util/readline.c
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "qemu-common.h"
-#include "monitor/readline.h"
+#include "qemu/readline.h"
 
 #define IS_NORM 0
 #define IS_ESC  1