diff --git a/docs/qapi-code-gen.txt b/docs/qapi-code-gen.txt
index c187fda..ee8a13e 100644
--- a/docs/qapi-code-gen.txt
+++ b/docs/qapi-code-gen.txt
@@ -125,6 +125,31 @@ Resulting in this JSON object:
    "lazy-refcounts": true }
 
 
+A special type of unions are anonymous unions. They don't form a dictionary in
+the wire format but allow the direct use of different types in their place. As
+they aren't structured, they don't have any explicit discriminator but use
+the (QObject) data type of their value as an implicit discriminator. This means
+that they are restricted to using only one discriminator value per QObject
+type. For example, you cannot have two different complex types in an anonymous
+union, or two different integer types.
+
+Anonymous unions are declared using an empty dictionary as their discriminator.
+The disriminator values never appear on the wire, they are only used in the
+generated C code. Anonymous unions cannot have a base type.
+
+ { 'union': 'BlockRef',
+   'discriminator': {},
+   'data': { 'definition': 'BlockdevOptions'
+             'reference': 'str' } }
+
+This example allows using both of the following example objects:
+
+ { "file": "my_existing_block_device_id" }
+ { "file": { "driver": "file",
+             "readonly": false,
+             'filename': "/tmp/mydisk.qcow2" } }
+
+
 === Commands ===
 
 Commands are defined by using a list containing three members.  The first
diff --git a/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h b/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
index 9124649..d0bbc7c 100644
--- a/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
+++ b/include/qapi/qmp/qobject.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ typedef enum {
     QTYPE_QFLOAT,
     QTYPE_QBOOL,
     QTYPE_QERROR,
+    QTYPE_MAX,
 } qtype_code;
 
 struct QObject;
diff --git a/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h b/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
index 5c1297f..f3fa420 100644
--- a/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
+++ b/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ struct Visitor
 
     void (*type_enum)(Visitor *v, int *obj, const char *strings[],
                       const char *kind, const char *name, Error **errp);
+    void (*get_next_type)(Visitor *v, int *kind, const int *qobjects,
+                          const char *name, Error **errp);
 
     void (*type_int)(Visitor *v, int64_t *obj, const char *name, Error **errp);
     void (*type_bool)(Visitor *v, bool *obj, const char *name, Error **errp);
diff --git a/include/qapi/visitor.h b/include/qapi/visitor.h
index bd24f85..48a2a2e 100644
--- a/include/qapi/visitor.h
+++ b/include/qapi/visitor.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #ifndef QAPI_VISITOR_CORE_H
 #define QAPI_VISITOR_CORE_H
 
+#include "qapi/qmp/qobject.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ void visit_end_list(Visitor *v, Error **errp);
 void visit_start_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name,
                           Error **errp);
 void visit_end_optional(Visitor *v, Error **errp);
+void visit_get_next_type(Visitor *v, int *obj, const int *qtypes,
+                         const char *name, Error **errp);
 void visit_type_enum(Visitor *v, int *obj, const char *strings[],
                      const char *kind, const char *name, Error **errp);
 void visit_type_int(Visitor *v, int64_t *obj, const char *name, Error **errp);
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
index 9b4d51b..d6a4012 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "qemu-common.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/qobject.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qerror.h"
 #include "qapi/visitor.h"
 #include "qapi/visitor-impl.h"
@@ -98,6 +99,14 @@ void visit_end_optional(Visitor *v, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
+void visit_get_next_type(Visitor *v, int *obj, const int *qtypes,
+                         const char *name, Error **errp)
+{
+    if (!error_is_set(errp) && v->get_next_type) {
+        v->get_next_type(v, obj, qtypes, name, errp);
+    }
+}
+
 void visit_type_enum(Visitor *v, int *obj, const char *strings[],
                      const char *kind, const char *name, Error **errp)
 {
diff --git a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
index 70864a1..bf42c04 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
@@ -208,6 +208,19 @@ static void qmp_input_end_list(Visitor *v, Error **errp)
     qmp_input_pop(qiv, errp);
 }
 
+static void qmp_input_get_next_type(Visitor *v, int *kind, const int *qobjects,
+                                    const char *name, Error **errp)
+{
+    QmpInputVisitor *qiv = to_qiv(v);
+    QObject *qobj = qmp_input_get_object(qiv, name, false);
+
+    if (!qobj) {
+        error_set(errp, QERR_MISSING_PARAMETER, name ? name : "null");
+        return;
+    }
+    *kind = qobjects[qobject_type(qobj)];
+}
+
 static void qmp_input_type_int(Visitor *v, int64_t *obj, const char *name,
                                Error **errp)
 {
@@ -317,6 +330,7 @@ QmpInputVisitor *qmp_input_visitor_new(QObject *obj)
     v->visitor.type_str = qmp_input_type_str;
     v->visitor.type_number = qmp_input_type_number;
     v->visitor.start_optional = qmp_input_start_optional;
+    v->visitor.get_next_type = qmp_input_get_next_type;
 
     qmp_input_push(v, obj, NULL);
     qobject_incref(obj);
diff --git a/qobject/qjson.c b/qobject/qjson.c
index 19085a1..6cf2511 100644
--- a/qobject/qjson.c
+++ b/qobject/qjson.c
@@ -260,6 +260,8 @@ static void to_json(const QObject *obj, QString *str, int pretty, int indent)
         /* XXX: should QError be emitted? */
     case QTYPE_NONE:
         break;
+    case QTYPE_MAX:
+        abort();
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/qapi-types.py b/scripts/qapi-types.py
index db2f533..57dff53 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi-types.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi-types.py
@@ -157,6 +157,40 @@ typedef enum %(name)s
 
     return lookup_decl + enum_decl
 
+def generate_anon_union_qtypes(expr):
+
+    name = expr['union']
+    members = expr['data']
+
+    ret = mcgen('''
+const int %(name)s_qtypes[QTYPE_MAX] = {
+''',
+    name=name)
+
+    for key in members:
+        qapi_type = members[key]
+        if builtin_type_qtypes.has_key(qapi_type):
+            qtype = builtin_type_qtypes[qapi_type]
+        elif find_struct(qapi_type):
+            qtype = "QTYPE_QDICT"
+        elif find_union(qapi_type):
+            qtype = "QTYPE_QDICT"
+        else:
+            assert False, "Invalid anonymous union member"
+
+        ret += mcgen('''
+    [ %(qtype)s ] = %(abbrev)s_KIND_%(enum)s,
+''',
+        qtype = qtype,
+        abbrev = de_camel_case(name).upper(),
+        enum = c_fun(de_camel_case(key),False).upper())
+
+    ret += mcgen('''
+};
+''')
+    return ret
+
+
 def generate_union(expr):
 
     name = expr['union']
@@ -196,6 +230,12 @@ struct %(name)s
     ret += mcgen('''
 };
 ''')
+    if discriminator == {}:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+extern const int %(name)s_qtypes[];
+''',
+            name=name)
+
 
     return ret
 
@@ -348,6 +388,8 @@ for expr in exprs:
         ret += generate_fwd_struct(expr['union'], expr['data']) + "\n"
         ret += generate_enum('%sKind' % expr['union'], expr['data'].keys())
         fdef.write(generate_enum_lookup('%sKind' % expr['union'], expr['data'].keys()))
+        if expr.get('discriminator') == {}:
+            fdef.write(generate_anon_union_qtypes(expr))
     else:
         continue
     fdecl.write(ret)
diff --git a/scripts/qapi-visit.py b/scripts/qapi-visit.py
index cd33e44..28539e2 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi-visit.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi-visit.py
@@ -172,6 +172,49 @@ void visit_type_%(name)s(Visitor *m, %(name)s * obj, const char *name, Error **e
 ''',
                  name=name)
 
+def generate_visit_anon_union(name, members):
+    ret = mcgen('''
+
+void visit_type_%(name)s(Visitor *m, %(name)s ** obj, const char *name, Error **errp)
+{
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    if (!error_is_set(errp)) {
+        visit_start_implicit_struct(m, (void**) obj, sizeof(%(name)s), &err);
+        visit_get_next_type(m, (int*) &(*obj)->kind, %(name)s_qtypes, name, &err);
+        switch ((*obj)->kind) {
+''',
+    name=name)
+
+    for key in members:
+        assert (members[key] in builtin_types
+            or find_struct(members[key])
+            or find_union(members[key])), "Invalid anonymous union member"
+
+        ret += mcgen('''
+        case %(abbrev)s_KIND_%(enum)s:
+            visit_type_%(c_type)s(m, &(*obj)->%(c_name)s, name, &err);
+            break;
+''',
+                abbrev = de_camel_case(name).upper(),
+                enum = c_fun(de_camel_case(key),False).upper(),
+                c_type = type_name(members[key]),
+                c_name = c_fun(key))
+
+    ret += mcgen('''
+        default:
+            abort();
+        }
+        error_propagate(errp, err);
+        err = NULL;
+        visit_end_implicit_struct(m, &err);
+    }
+}
+''')
+
+    return ret
+
+
 def generate_visit_union(expr):
 
     name = expr['union']
@@ -180,6 +223,10 @@ def generate_visit_union(expr):
     base = expr.get('base')
     discriminator = expr.get('discriminator')
 
+    if discriminator == {}:
+        assert not base
+        return generate_visit_anon_union(name, members)
+
     ret = generate_visit_enum('%sKind' % name, members.keys())
 
     if base:
diff --git a/scripts/qapi.py b/scripts/qapi.py
index 3a54c7f..38c808e 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi.py
@@ -17,6 +17,21 @@ builtin_types = [
     'uint8', 'uint16', 'uint32', 'uint64'
 ]
 
+builtin_type_qtypes = {
+    'str':      'QTYPE_QSTRING',
+    'int':      'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'number':   'QTYPE_QFLOAT',
+    'bool':     'QTYPE_QBOOL',
+    'int8':     'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'int16':    'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'int32':    'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'int64':    'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'uint8':    'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'uint16':   'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'uint32':   'QTYPE_QINT',
+    'uint64':   'QTYPE_QINT',
+}
+
 def tokenize(data):
     while len(data):
         ch = data[0]
