diff --git a/include/qemu/osdep.h b/include/qemu/osdep.h
index ae1234104c..577d9e8315 100644
--- a/include/qemu/osdep.h
+++ b/include/qemu/osdep.h
@@ -497,7 +497,13 @@ int qemu_madvise(void *addr, size_t len, int advice);
 int qemu_mprotect_rwx(void *addr, size_t size);
 int qemu_mprotect_none(void *addr, size_t size);
 
+/*
+ * Don't introduce new usage of this function, prefer the following
+ * qemu_open/qemu_create that take an "Error **errp"
+ */
 int qemu_open_old(const char *name, int flags, ...);
+int qemu_open(const char *name, int flags, Error **errp);
+int qemu_create(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode, Error **errp);
 int qemu_close(int fd);
 int qemu_unlink(const char *name);
 #ifndef _WIN32
diff --git a/util/osdep.c b/util/osdep.c
index 28aa89adc9..c99f1e7db2 100644
--- a/util/osdep.c
+++ b/util/osdep.c
@@ -341,6 +341,22 @@ qemu_open_internal(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode, Error **errp)
 }
 
 
+int qemu_open(const char *name, int flags, Error **errp)
+{
+    assert(!(flags & O_CREAT));
+
+    return qemu_open_internal(name, flags, 0, errp);
+}
+
+
+int qemu_create(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode, Error **errp)
+{
+    assert(!(flags & O_CREAT));
+
+    return qemu_open_internal(name, flags | O_CREAT, mode, errp);
+}
+
+
 int qemu_open_old(const char *name, int flags, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;