diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index c2b2c16..e7bab75 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "net/eth.h"
 #include "sysemu/char.h"
 #include "sysemu/block-backend.h"
+#include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
 #include "qemu/option.h"
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 #include "qmp-commands.h"
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "ui/console.h"
 #include "block/qapi.h"
 #include "qemu-io.h"
+#include "migration/migration.h"
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPICE
 #include <spice/enums.h>
@@ -2386,3 +2388,27 @@ void hmp_rocker_of_dpa_groups(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
     qapi_free_RockerOfDpaGroupList(list);
 }
+
+void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
+{
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    const char *name = qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "name");
+    char name_buf[64];
+
+    if (name == NULL) {
+        qemu_timeval tv;
+        struct tm tm;
+
+        /* cast below needed for OpenBSD where tv_sec is still 'long' */
+        localtime_r((const time_t *)&tv.tv_sec, &tm);
+        strftime(name_buf, sizeof(name_buf), "vm-%Y%m%d%H%M%S", &tm);
+
+        name = name_buf;
+    }
+
+    migrate_savevm(name, &local_err);
+
+    if (local_err != NULL) {
+        error_report_err(local_err);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/include/migration/migration.h b/include/migration/migration.h
index d9494b8..73c8bb1 100644
--- a/include/migration/migration.h
+++ b/include/migration/migration.h
@@ -277,6 +277,8 @@ int migrate_compress_threads(void);
 int migrate_decompress_threads(void);
 bool migrate_use_events(void);
 
+void migrate_savevm(const char *name, Error **errp);
+
 /* Sending on the return path - generic and then for each message type */
 void migrate_send_rp_message(MigrationIncomingState *mis,
                              enum mig_rp_message_type message_type,
@@ -321,4 +323,5 @@ int ram_save_queue_pages(MigrationState *ms, const char *rbname,
 PostcopyState postcopy_state_get(void);
 /* Set the state and return the old state */
 PostcopyState postcopy_state_set(PostcopyState new_state);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/migration/savevm.c b/migration/savevm.c
index 0ad1b93..308302a 100644
--- a/migration/savevm.c
+++ b/migration/savevm.c
@@ -1905,7 +1905,7 @@ int qemu_loadvm_state(QEMUFile *f)
     return ret;
 }
 
-void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
+void migrate_savevm(const char *name, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs, *bs1;
     QEMUSnapshotInfo sn1, *sn = &sn1, old_sn1, *old_sn = &old_sn1;
@@ -1914,29 +1914,27 @@ void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     int saved_vm_running;
     uint64_t vm_state_size;
     qemu_timeval tv;
-    struct tm tm;
-    const char *name = qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "name");
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     AioContext *aio_context;
 
     if (!bdrv_all_can_snapshot(&bs)) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Device '%s' is writable but does not "
-                       "support snapshots.\n", bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+        error_setg(errp,
+                   "Device '%s' is writable but does not support snapshots",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         return;
     }
 
     /* Delete old snapshots of the same name */
-    if (name && bdrv_all_delete_snapshot(name, &bs1, &local_err) < 0) {
-        monitor_printf(mon,
-                       "Error while deleting snapshot on device '%s': %s\n",
-                       bdrv_get_device_name(bs1), error_get_pretty(local_err));
+    if (bdrv_all_delete_snapshot(name, &bs1, &local_err) < 0) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Error while deleting snapshot on device '%s': %s",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs1), error_get_pretty(local_err));
         error_free(local_err);
         return;
     }
 
     bs = bdrv_all_find_vmstate_bs();
     if (bs == NULL) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "No block device can accept snapshots\n");
+        error_setg(errp, "No block device can accept snapshots");
         return;
     }
     aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(bs);
@@ -1945,7 +1943,7 @@ void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
     ret = global_state_store();
     if (ret) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Error saving global state\n");
+        error_setg(errp, "Error saving global state");
         return;
     }
     vm_stop(RUN_STATE_SAVE_VM);
@@ -1960,39 +1958,31 @@ void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     sn->date_nsec = tv.tv_usec * 1000;
     sn->vm_clock_nsec = qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_VIRTUAL);
 
-    if (name) {
-        ret = bdrv_snapshot_find(bs, old_sn, name);
-        if (ret >= 0) {
-            pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), old_sn->name);
-            pstrcpy(sn->id_str, sizeof(sn->id_str), old_sn->id_str);
-        } else {
-            pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), name);
-        }
+    ret = bdrv_snapshot_find(bs, old_sn, name);
+    if (ret >= 0) {
+        pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), old_sn->name);
+        pstrcpy(sn->id_str, sizeof(sn->id_str), old_sn->id_str);
     } else {
-        /* cast below needed for OpenBSD where tv_sec is still 'long' */
-        localtime_r((const time_t *)&tv.tv_sec, &tm);
-        strftime(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), "vm-%Y%m%d%H%M%S", &tm);
+        pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), name);
     }
 
     /* save the VM state */
     f = qemu_fopen_bdrv(bs, 1);
     if (!f) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Could not open VM state file\n");
+        error_setg(errp, "Could not open VM state file");
         goto the_end;
     }
-    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, &local_err);
+    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, errp);
     vm_state_size = qemu_ftell(f);
     qemu_fclose(f);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "%s\n", error_get_pretty(local_err));
-        error_free(local_err);
         goto the_end;
     }
 
     ret = bdrv_all_create_snapshot(sn, bs, vm_state_size, &bs);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Error while creating snapshot on '%s'\n",
-                       bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+        error_setg(errp, "Error while creating snapshot on '%s'",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
     }
 
  the_end:
