diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index cd8d6b140f..018ed62560 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2755,12 +2755,13 @@ S: Supported
 F: util/async.c
 F: util/aio-*.c
 F: util/aio-*.h
+F: util/defer-call.c
 F: util/fdmon-*.c
 F: block/io.c
-F: block/plug.c
 F: migration/block*
 F: include/block/aio.h
 F: include/block/aio-wait.h
+F: include/qemu/defer-call.h
 F: scripts/qemugdb/aio.py
 F: tests/unit/test-fdmon-epoll.c
 T: git https://github.com/stefanha/qemu.git block
diff --git a/block/blkio.c b/block/blkio.c
index 7cf6d61f47..0a0a6c0f5f 100644
--- a/block/blkio.c
+++ b/block/blkio.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "block/block_int.h"
 #include "exec/memory.h"
 #include "exec/cpu-common.h" /* for qemu_ram_get_fd() */
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qdict.h"
diff --git a/block/io_uring.c b/block/io_uring.c
index 8429f341be..3a1e1f45b3 100644
--- a/block/io_uring.c
+++ b/block/io_uring.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "block/block.h"
 #include "block/raw-aio.h"
 #include "qemu/coroutine.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "sysemu/block-backend.h"
 #include "trace.h"
diff --git a/block/linux-aio.c b/block/linux-aio.c
index 49a37174c2..a2670b3e46 100644
--- a/block/linux-aio.c
+++ b/block/linux-aio.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "block/raw-aio.h"
 #include "qemu/event_notifier.h"
 #include "qemu/coroutine.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "sysemu/block-backend.h"
 
diff --git a/block/meson.build b/block/meson.build
index f351b9d0d3..59ff6d380c 100644
--- a/block/meson.build
+++ b/block/meson.build
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ block_ss.add(files(
   'mirror.c',
   'nbd.c',
   'null.c',
-  'plug.c',
   'preallocate.c',
   'progress_meter.c',
   'qapi.c',
diff --git a/block/nvme.c b/block/nvme.c
index dfbd1085fd..96b3f8f2fa 100644
--- a/block/nvme.c
+++ b/block/nvme.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qdict.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qstring.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
diff --git a/hw/block/dataplane/xen-block.c b/hw/block/dataplane/xen-block.c
index e9dd8f8a99..c4bb28c66f 100644
--- a/hw/block/dataplane/xen-block.c
+++ b/hw/block/dataplane/xen-block.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "qemu/memalign.h"
diff --git a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
index 6a45033d15..a1f8e15522 100644
--- a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
+++ b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qemu/iov.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
diff --git a/hw/scsi/virtio-scsi.c b/hw/scsi/virtio-scsi.c
index 42fcbcb45f..9c751bf296 100644
--- a/hw/scsi/virtio-scsi.c
+++ b/hw/scsi/virtio-scsi.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "standard-headers/linux/virtio_ids.h"
 #include "hw/virtio/virtio-scsi.h"
 #include "migration/qemu-file-types.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/iov.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
diff --git a/include/qemu/defer-call.h b/include/qemu/defer-call.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2c1d24572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qemu/defer-call.h
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+/*
+ * Deferred calls
+ *
+ * Copyright Red Hat.
+ */
+
+#ifndef QEMU_DEFER_CALL_H
+#define QEMU_DEFER_CALL_H
+
+/* See documentation in util/defer-call.c */
+void defer_call_begin(void);
+void defer_call_end(void);
+void defer_call(void (*fn)(void *), void *opaque);
+
+#endif /* QEMU_DEFER_CALL_H */
diff --git a/include/sysemu/block-backend-io.h b/include/sysemu/block-backend-io.h
index cfcfd85c1d..d174275a5c 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/block-backend-io.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/block-backend-io.h
@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@ void blk_iostatus_set_err(BlockBackend *blk, int error);
 int blk_get_max_iov(BlockBackend *blk);
 int blk_get_max_hw_iov(BlockBackend *blk);
 
-void defer_call_begin(void);
-void defer_call_end(void);
-void defer_call(void (*fn)(void *), void *opaque);
-
 AioContext *blk_get_aio_context(BlockBackend *blk);
 BlockAcctStats *blk_get_stats(BlockBackend *blk);
 void *blk_aio_get(const AIOCBInfo *aiocb_info, BlockBackend *blk,
diff --git a/block/plug.c b/util/defer-call.c
similarity index 99%
rename from block/plug.c
rename to util/defer-call.c
index f26173559c..037dc0abf0 100644
--- a/block/plug.c
+++ b/util/defer-call.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #include "qemu/coroutine-tls.h"
 #include "qemu/notify.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
-#include "sysemu/block-backend.h"
+#include "qemu/defer-call.h"
 
 /* A function call that has been deferred until defer_call_end() */
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/util/meson.build b/util/meson.build
index c4827fd70a..769b24f2e0 100644
--- a/util/meson.build
+++ b/util/meson.build
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ util_ss.add(when: 'CONFIG_WIN32', if_true: pathcch)
 if glib_has_gslice
   util_ss.add(files('qtree.c'))
 endif
+util_ss.add(files('defer-call.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('envlist.c', 'path.c', 'module.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('host-utils.c'))
 util_ss.add(files('bitmap.c', 'bitops.c'))