diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6ed3194..f2caedc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ $(call set-vpath, $(SRC_PATH):$(SRC_PATH)/hw)
 
 LIBS+=-lz $(LIBS_TOOLS)
 
+HELPERS-$(CONFIG_LINUX) = qemu-bridge-helper$(EXESUF)
+
 ifdef BUILD_DOCS
 DOCS=qemu-doc.html qemu-tech.html qemu.1 qemu-img.1 qemu-nbd.8 QMP/qmp-commands.txt
 else
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ defconfig:
 
 -include config-all-devices.mak
 
-build-all: $(DOCS) $(TOOLS) recurse-all
+build-all: $(DOCS) $(TOOLS) $(HELPERS-y) recurse-all
 
 config-host.h: config-host.h-timestamp
 config-host.h-timestamp: config-host.mak
@@ -151,6 +153,8 @@ qemu-nbd$(EXESUF): qemu-nbd.o qemu-tool.o qemu-error.o $(oslib-obj-y) $(trace-ob
 
 qemu-io$(EXESUF): qemu-io.o cmd.o qemu-tool.o qemu-error.o $(oslib-obj-y) $(trace-obj-y) $(block-obj-y) $(qobject-obj-y) $(version-obj-y) qemu-timer-common.o
 
+qemu-bridge-helper$(EXESUF): qemu-bridge-helper.o
+
 qemu-img-cmds.h: $(SRC_PATH)/qemu-img-cmds.hx
 	$(call quiet-command,sh $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/hxtool -h < $< > $@,"  GEN   $@")
 
@@ -208,7 +212,7 @@ clean:
 # avoid old build problems by removing potentially incorrect old files
 	rm -f config.mak op-i386.h opc-i386.h gen-op-i386.h op-arm.h opc-arm.h gen-op-arm.h
 	rm -f qemu-options.def
-	rm -f *.o *.d *.a *.lo $(TOOLS) qemu-ga TAGS cscope.* *.pod *~ */*~
+	rm -f *.o *.d *.a *.lo $(TOOLS) $(HELPERS-y) qemu-ga TAGS cscope.* *.pod *~ */*~
 	rm -Rf .libs
 	rm -f slirp/*.o slirp/*.d audio/*.o audio/*.d block/*.o block/*.d net/*.o net/*.d fsdev/*.o fsdev/*.d ui/*.o ui/*.d qapi/*.o qapi/*.d qga/*.o qga/*.d
 	rm -f qemu-img-cmds.h
@@ -275,6 +279,10 @@ install: all $(if $(BUILD_DOCS),install-doc) install-sysconfig
 ifneq ($(TOOLS),)
 	$(INSTALL_PROG) $(STRIP_OPT) $(TOOLS) "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)"
 endif
+ifneq ($(HELPERS-y),)
+	$(INSTALL_DIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)"
+	$(INSTALL_PROG) $(STRIP_OPT) $(HELPERS-y) "$(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)"
+endif
 ifneq ($(BLOBS),)
 	$(INSTALL_DIR) "$(DESTDIR)$(datadir)"
 	set -e; for x in $(BLOBS); do \
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 59b1494..3e32834 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2742,6 +2742,7 @@ echo "mandir=$mandir" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "datadir=$datadir" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "sysconfdir=$sysconfdir" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "docdir=$docdir" >> $config_host_mak
+echo "libexecdir=\${prefix}/libexec" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "confdir=$confdir" >> $config_host_mak
 
 case "$cpu" in
diff --git a/qemu-bridge-helper.c b/qemu-bridge-helper.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ac7b36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qemu-bridge-helper.c
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU Bridge Helper
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM, Corp. 2011
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ * Anthony Liguori   <address@hidden>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2.  See
+ * the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "config-host.h"
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <ctype.h>
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/un.h>
+#include <sys/prctl.h>
+
+#include <net/if.h>
+
+#include <linux/sockios.h>
+
+#include "net/tap-linux.h"
+
+static int has_vnet_hdr(int fd)
+{
+    unsigned int features = 0;
+    struct ifreq ifreq;
+
+    if (ioctl(fd, TUNGETFEATURES, &features) == -1) {
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    if (!(features & IFF_VNET_HDR)) {
+        return -ENOTSUP;
+    }
+
+    if (ioctl(fd, TUNGETIFF, &ifreq) != -1 || errno != EBADFD) {
+        return -ENOTSUP;
+    }
+
+    return 1;
+}
+
+static void prep_ifreq(struct ifreq *ifr, const char *ifname)
+{
+    memset(ifr, 0, sizeof(*ifr));
+    snprintf(ifr->ifr_name, IFNAMSIZ, "%s", ifname);
+}
+
+static int send_fd(int c, int fd)
+{
+    char msgbuf[CMSG_SPACE(sizeof(fd))];
+    struct msghdr msg = {
+        .msg_control = msgbuf,
+        .msg_controllen = sizeof(msgbuf),
+    };
+    struct cmsghdr *cmsg;
+    struct iovec iov;
+    char req[1] = { 0x00 };
+
+    cmsg = CMSG_FIRSTHDR(&msg);
+    cmsg->cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET;
+    cmsg->cmsg_type = SCM_RIGHTS;
+    cmsg->cmsg_len = CMSG_LEN(sizeof(fd));
+    msg.msg_controllen = cmsg->cmsg_len;
+
+    iov.iov_base = req;
+    iov.iov_len = sizeof(req);
+
+    msg.msg_iov = &iov;
+    msg.msg_iovlen = 1;
+    memcpy(CMSG_DATA(cmsg), &fd, sizeof(fd));
+
+    return sendmsg(c, &msg, 0);
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    struct ifreq ifr;
+    int fd, ctlfd, unixfd;
+    int use_vnet = 0;
+    int mtu;
+    const char *bridge;
+    char iface[IFNAMSIZ];
+    int index;
+
+    /* parse arguments */
+    if (argc < 3 || argc > 4) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [--use-vnet] BRIDGE FD\n", argv[0]);
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    index = 1;
+    if (strcmp(argv[index], "--use-vnet") == 0) {
+        use_vnet = 1;
+        index++;
+        if (argc == 3) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "invalid number of arguments\n");
+            return -1;
+        }
+    }
+
+    bridge = argv[index++];
+    unixfd = atoi(argv[index++]);
+
+    /* open a socket to use to control the network interfaces */
+    ctlfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+    if (ctlfd == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to open control socket\n");
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* open the tap device */
+    fd = open("/dev/net/tun", O_RDWR);
+    if (fd == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to open /dev/net/tun\n");
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* request a tap device, disable PI, and add vnet header support if
+     * requested and it's available. */
+    prep_ifreq(&ifr, "tap%d");
+    ifr.ifr_flags = IFF_TAP|IFF_NO_PI;
+    if (use_vnet && has_vnet_hdr(fd)) {
+        ifr.ifr_flags |= IFF_VNET_HDR;
+    }
+
+    if (ioctl(fd, TUNSETIFF, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to create tun device\n");
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* save tap device name */
+    snprintf(iface, sizeof(iface), "%s", ifr.ifr_name);
+
+    /* get the mtu of the bridge */
+    prep_ifreq(&ifr, bridge);
+    if (ioctl(ctlfd, SIOCGIFMTU, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to get mtu of bridge `%s'\n", bridge);
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* save mtu */
+    mtu = ifr.ifr_mtu;
+
+    /* set the mtu of the interface based on the bridge */
+    prep_ifreq(&ifr, iface);
+    ifr.ifr_mtu = mtu;
+    if (ioctl(ctlfd, SIOCSIFMTU, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to set mtu of device `%s' to %d\n",
+                iface, mtu);
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* add the interface to the bridge */
+    prep_ifreq(&ifr, bridge);
+    ifr.ifr_ifindex = if_nametoindex(iface);
+
+    if (ioctl(ctlfd, SIOCBRADDIF, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to add interface `%s' to bridge `%s'\n",
+                iface, bridge);
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* bring the interface up */
+    prep_ifreq(&ifr, iface);
+    if (ioctl(ctlfd, SIOCGIFFLAGS, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to get interface flags for `%s'\n", iface);
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    ifr.ifr_flags |= IFF_UP;
+    if (ioctl(ctlfd, SIOCSIFFLAGS, &ifr) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to set bring up interface `%s'\n", iface);
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* write fd to the domain socket */
+    if (send_fd(unixfd, fd) == -1) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "failed to write fd to unix socket\n");
+        return -errno;
+    }
+
+    /* ... */
+
+    /* profit! */
+
+    close(fd);
+
+    close(ctlfd);
+
+    return 0;
+}
