diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index 05ced9d..0bd8e12 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -3944,12 +3944,16 @@
 #
 # @option: option name
 #
-# @parameters: an array of @CommandLineParameterInfo
+# @parameters: array of @CommandLineParameterInfo, possibly empty
+# @argument: @optional present if the @parameters array is empty. If
+#            true, then the option takes unspecified arguments, if
+#            false, then the option is merely a boolean flag (since 2.0)
 #
 # Since 1.5
 ##
 { 'type': 'CommandLineOptionInfo',
-  'data': { 'option': 'str', 'parameters': ['CommandLineParameterInfo'] } }
+  'data': { 'option': 'str', 'parameters': ['CommandLineParameterInfo'],
+            '*argument': 'bool' } }
 
 ##
 # @query-command-line-options:
diff --git a/qemu-options.h b/qemu-options.h
index 89a009e..f729965 100644
--- a/qemu-options.h
+++ b/qemu-options.h
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
  * THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
+#include "sysemu/arch_init.h"
+
 #ifndef _QEMU_OPTIONS_H_
 #define _QEMU_OPTIONS_H_
 
@@ -33,4 +35,20 @@ enum {
 #include "qemu-options-wrapper.h"
 };
 
+#define HAS_ARG 0x0001
+
+typedef struct QEMUOption {
+    const char *name;
+    int flags;
+    int index;
+    uint32_t arch_mask;
+} QEMUOption;
+
+static const QEMUOption qemu_options[] = {
+    { "h", 0, QEMU_OPTION_h, QEMU_ARCH_ALL },
+#define QEMU_OPTIONS_GENERATE_OPTIONS
+#include "qemu-options-wrapper.h"
+    { NULL },
+};
+
 #endif
diff --git a/util/qemu-config.c b/util/qemu-config.c
index d624d92..b82ac52 100644
--- a/util/qemu-config.c
+++ b/util/qemu-config.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "hw/qdev.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qmp-commands.h"
+#include "qemu-options.h"
 
 static QemuOptsList *vm_config_groups[32];
 static QemuOptsList *drive_config_groups[4];
@@ -78,6 +79,17 @@ static CommandLineParameterInfoList *get_param_infolist(const QemuOptDesc *desc)
     return param_list;
 }
 
+static int get_group_index(const char *name)
+{
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; vm_config_groups[i] != NULL; i++) {
+        if (!strcmp(vm_config_groups[i]->name, name)) {
+            return i;
+        }
+    }
+    return -1;
+}
 /* remove repeated entry from the info list */
 static void cleanup_infolist(CommandLineParameterInfoList *head)
 {
@@ -139,15 +151,26 @@ CommandLineOptionInfoList *qmp_query_command_line_options(bool has_option,
     CommandLineOptionInfo *info;
     int i;
 
-    for (i = 0; vm_config_groups[i] != NULL; i++) {
-        if (!has_option || !strcmp(option, vm_config_groups[i]->name)) {
+    for (i = 0; qemu_options[i].name; i++) {
+        if (!has_option || !strcmp(option, qemu_options[i].name)) {
             info = g_malloc0(sizeof(*info));
-            info->option = g_strdup(vm_config_groups[i]->name);
-            if (!strcmp("drive", vm_config_groups[i]->name)) {
+            info->option = g_strdup(qemu_options[i].name);
+
+            int idx = get_group_index(qemu_options[i].name);
+
+            if (qemu_options[i].flags) {
+                info->argument = true;
+            }
+
+            if (!strcmp("drive", qemu_options[i].name)) {
                 info->parameters = get_drive_infolist();
-            } else {
+            } else if (idx >= 0) {
                 info->parameters =
-                    get_param_infolist(vm_config_groups[i]->desc);
+                    get_param_infolist(vm_config_groups[idx]->desc);
+            }
+
+            if (!info->parameters) {
+                info->has_argument = true;
             }
             entry = g_malloc0(sizeof(*entry));
             entry->value = info;
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 7f4fe0d..b8c674a 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -165,7 +165,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #include "trace/control.h"
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
 #include "sysemu/cpus.h"
-#include "sysemu/arch_init.h"
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 
 #include "ui/qemu-spice.h"
@@ -2046,22 +2045,6 @@ static void help(int exitcode)
     exit(exitcode);
 }
 
-#define HAS_ARG 0x0001
-
-typedef struct QEMUOption {
-    const char *name;
-    int flags;
-    int index;
-    uint32_t arch_mask;
-} QEMUOption;
-
-static const QEMUOption qemu_options[] = {
-    { "h", 0, QEMU_OPTION_h, QEMU_ARCH_ALL },
-#define QEMU_OPTIONS_GENERATE_OPTIONS
-#include "qemu-options-wrapper.h"
-    { NULL },
-};
-
 static bool vga_available(void)
 {
     return object_class_by_name("VGA") || object_class_by_name("isa-vga");
