diff --git a/balloon.c b/balloon.c
index f104b42961..5fff79523a 100644
--- a/balloon.c
+++ b/balloon.c
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ static int balloon_inhibit_count;
 
 bool qemu_balloon_is_inhibited(void)
 {
-    return atomic_read(&balloon_inhibit_count) > 0;
+    return atomic_read(&balloon_inhibit_count) > 0 ||
+           ram_block_discard_is_disabled();
 }
 
 void qemu_balloon_inhibit(bool state)
diff --git a/exec.c b/exec.c
index 21926dc9c7..893636176e 100644
--- a/exec.c
+++ b/exec.c
@@ -4115,4 +4115,56 @@ void mtree_print_dispatch(AddressSpaceDispatch *d, MemoryRegion *root)
     }
 }
 
+/*
+ * If positive, discarding RAM is disabled. If negative, discarding RAM is
+ * required to work and cannot be disabled.
+ */
+static int ram_block_discard_disabled;
+
+int ram_block_discard_disable(bool state)
+{
+    int old;
+
+    if (!state) {
+        atomic_dec(&ram_block_discard_disabled);
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    do {
+        old = atomic_read(&ram_block_discard_disabled);
+        if (old < 0) {
+            return -EBUSY;
+        }
+    } while (atomic_cmpxchg(&ram_block_discard_disabled, old, old + 1) != old);
+    return 0;
+}
+
+int ram_block_discard_require(bool state)
+{
+    int old;
+
+    if (!state) {
+        atomic_inc(&ram_block_discard_disabled);
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    do {
+        old = atomic_read(&ram_block_discard_disabled);
+        if (old > 0) {
+            return -EBUSY;
+        }
+    } while (atomic_cmpxchg(&ram_block_discard_disabled, old, old - 1) != old);
+    return 0;
+}
+
+bool ram_block_discard_is_disabled(void)
+{
+    return atomic_read(&ram_block_discard_disabled) > 0;
+}
+
+bool ram_block_discard_is_required(void)
+{
+    return atomic_read(&ram_block_discard_disabled) < 0;
+}
+
 #endif
diff --git a/include/exec/memory.h b/include/exec/memory.h
index 7207025bd4..38ec38b9a8 100644
--- a/include/exec/memory.h
+++ b/include/exec/memory.h
@@ -2472,6 +2472,47 @@ static inline MemOp devend_memop(enum device_endian end)
 }
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Inhibit technologies that require discarding of pages in RAM blocks, e.g.,
+ * to manage the actual amount of memory consumed by the VM (then, the memory
+ * provided by RAM blocks might be bigger than the desired memory consumption).
+ * This *must* be set if:
+ * - Discarding parts of a RAM blocks does not result in the change being
+ *   reflected in the VM and the pages getting freed.
+ * - All memory in RAM blocks is pinned or duplicated, invaldiating any previous
+ *   discards blindly.
+ * - Discarding parts of a RAM blocks will result in integrity issues (e.g.,
+ *   encrypted VMs).
+ * Technologies that only temporarily pin the current working set of a
+ * driver are fine, because we don't expect such pages to be discarded
+ * (esp. based on guest action like balloon inflation).
+ *
+ * This is *not* to be used to protect from concurrent discards (esp.,
+ * postcopy).
+ *
+ * Returns 0 if successful. Returns -EBUSY if a technology that relies on
+ * discards to work reliably is active.
+ */
+int ram_block_discard_disable(bool state);
+
+/*
+ * Inhibit technologies that disable discarding of pages in RAM blocks.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 if successful. Returns -EBUSY if discards are already set to
+ * broken.
+ */
+int ram_block_discard_require(bool state);
+
+/*
+ * Test if discarding of memory in ram blocks is disabled.
+ */
+bool ram_block_discard_is_disabled(void);
+
+/*
+ * Test if discarding of memory in ram blocks is required to work reliably.
+ */
+bool ram_block_discard_is_required(void);
+
 #endif
 
 #endif