diff --git a/hmp-commands.hx b/hmp-commands.hx
index 3d98604..382b87d 100644
--- a/hmp-commands.hx
+++ b/hmp-commands.hx
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ ETEXI
         .args_type  = "name:s?",
         .params     = "[tag|id]",
         .help       = "save a VM snapshot. If no tag or id are provided, a new snapshot is created",
-        .mhandler.cmd = do_savevm,
+        .mhandler.cmd = hmp_vm_snapshot_save,
     },
 
 STEXI
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ STEXI
 @findex savevm
 Create a snapshot of the whole virtual machine. If @var{tag} is
 provided, it is used as human readable identifier. If there is already
-a snapshot with the same tag or ID, it is replaced. More info at
+a snapshot with the same @var{tag} or @var{id}, it is replaced. More info at
 @ref{vm_snapshots}.
 ETEXI
 
diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index dbe9b90..b38b6ce 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -1433,3 +1433,14 @@ void hmp_chardev_remove(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     qmp_chardev_remove(qdict_get_str(qdict, "id"), &local_err);
     hmp_handle_error(mon, &local_err);
 }
+
+void hmp_vm_snapshot_save(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
+{
+    const char *name = qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "name");
+    Error *err = NULL;
+    SnapshotInfo *info = NULL;
+
+    info = qmp_vm_snapshot_save(!!name, name, true, true, &err);
+    qapi_free_SnapshotInfo(info);
+    hmp_handle_error(mon, &err);
+}
diff --git a/hmp.h b/hmp.h
index 80e8b41..1bb8590 100644
--- a/hmp.h
+++ b/hmp.h
@@ -86,5 +86,6 @@ void hmp_nbd_server_add(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 void hmp_nbd_server_stop(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 void hmp_chardev_add(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 void hmp_chardev_remove(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
+void hmp_vm_snapshot_save(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 9e6a4a9..87b82d7 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ void qemu_remove_exit_notifier(Notifier *notify);
 
 void qemu_add_machine_init_done_notifier(Notifier *notify);
 
-void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 int load_vmstate(const char *name);
 void do_delvm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
 void do_info_snapshots(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict);
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index f629a24..cbb73d9 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -3453,3 +3453,25 @@
 # Since: 1.5
 ##
 { 'command': 'query-tpm', 'returns': ['TPMInfo'] }
+
+##
+# @vm-snapshot-save:
+#
+# Create a snapshot of the whole virtual machine. If tag is provided as @name,
+# it is used as human readable identifier. If there is already a snapshot
+# with the same tag or id, the force argument needs to be true to replace it.
+#
+# The VM is automatically stopped and resumed and saving a snapshot can take
+# a long time.
+#
+# @name: #optional tag of new snapshot or tag|id of existing snapshot
+#
+# @force: #optional specify whether existing snapshot is replaced or not,
+#         default is false
+#
+# Returns: SnapshotInfo on success
+#
+# Since: 1.5
+##
+{ 'command': 'vm-snapshot-save', 'data': {'*name': 'str', '*force': 'bool'},
+  'returns': 'SnapshotInfo' }
diff --git a/qmp-commands.hx b/qmp-commands.hx
index 1e0e11e..119e7a5 100644
--- a/qmp-commands.hx
+++ b/qmp-commands.hx
@@ -1445,6 +1445,49 @@ Example:
 
 EQMP
     {
+        .name       = "vm-snapshot-save",
+        .args_type  = "name:s?,force:b?",
+        .params     = "[name] [force]",
+        .help       = "save a VM snapshot, to replace existing snapshot use force parameter",
+        .mhandler.cmd_new = qmp_marshal_input_vm_snapshot_save
+    },
+
+SQMP
+vm-snapshot-save
+------
+
+Create a snapshot of the whole virtual machine. If tag is provided as name,
+it is used as human readable identifier. If there is already a snapshot with
+the same tag, the force argument needs to be true to replace it.
+
+The VM is automatically stopped and resumed and saving a snapshot can take
+a long time.
+
+Arguments:
+
+- "name": tag of new snapshot or tag|id of existing snapshot
+          (json-string, optional)
+
+- "force": specify whether existing snapshot is replaced or not,
+           default is false (json-bool, optional)
+
+Example:
+
+-> { "execute": "vm-snapshot-save", "arguments": { "name": "my_snapshot" } }
+<- {
+      "return": {
+         "id": "1",
+         "name": "my_snapshot",
+         "date-sec": 1364480534,
+         "date-nsec": 978215000,
+         "vm-clock-sec": 5,
+         "vm-clock-nsec": 153620449,
+         "vm-state-size": 5709953
+      }
+   }
+
+EQMP
+    {
         .name       = "qmp_capabilities",
         .args_type  = "",
         .params     = "",
diff --git a/savevm.c b/savevm.c
index 3c1ac9e..7b127eb 100644
--- a/savevm.c
+++ b/savevm.c
@@ -2249,17 +2249,18 @@ static int del_existing_snapshots(const char *name, Error **errp)
     return 0;
 }
 
-void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
+SnapshotInfo *qmp_vm_snapshot_save(bool has_name, const char *name,
+                                   bool has_force, bool force, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs, *bs1;
     QEMUSnapshotInfo sn1, *sn = &sn1, old_sn1, *old_sn = &old_sn1;
+    SnapshotInfo *info = NULL;
     int ret;
     QEMUFile *f;
     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;
 
     /* Verify if there is a device that doesn't support snapshots and is writable */
@@ -2271,16 +2272,16 @@ void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
         }
 
         if (!bdrv_can_snapshot(bs)) {
-            monitor_printf(mon, "Device '%s' is writable but does not support snapshots.\n",
-                               bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
-            return;
+            error_setg(errp, "device '%s' is writable but does not support "
+                       "snapshots", bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+            return NULL;
         }
     }
 
     bs = bdrv_snapshots();
     if (!bs) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "No block device can accept snapshots\n");
-        return;
+        error_setg(errp, "no block device can accept snapshots");
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     saved_vm_running = runstate_is_running();
@@ -2294,11 +2295,23 @@ void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
     sn->date_nsec = tv.tv_usec * 1000;
     sn->vm_clock_nsec = qemu_get_clock_ns(vm_clock);
 
-    if (name) {
+    if (has_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);
+            if (has_force && force) {
+                pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), old_sn->name);
+                pstrcpy(sn->id_str, sizeof(sn->id_str), old_sn->id_str);
+
+                /* Delete old snapshots of the same name */
+                if (del_existing_snapshots(name, &local_err) < 0) {
+                    error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+                    goto the_end;
+                }
+            } else {
+                error_setg(errp, "snapshot '%s' exists, for override use "
+                           "'force' parameter", name);
+                goto the_end;
+            }
         } else {
             pstrcpy(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), name);
         }
@@ -2308,24 +2321,17 @@ void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
         strftime(sn->name, sizeof(sn->name), "vm-%Y%m%d%H%M%S", &tm);
     }
 
-    /* Delete old snapshots of the same name */
-    if (name && del_existing_snapshots(name, &local_err) < 0) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "%s\n", error_get_pretty(local_err));
-        error_free(local_err);
-        goto the_end;
-    }
-
     /* 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, "failed to open '%s' file", bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         goto the_end;
     }
-    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, NULL);
+    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, &local_err);
     vm_state_size = qemu_ftell(f);
     qemu_fclose(f);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Error %d while writing VM\n", ret);
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
         goto the_end;
     }
 
@@ -2336,17 +2342,27 @@ void do_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
         if (bdrv_can_snapshot(bs1)) {
             /* Write VM state size only to the image that contains the state */
             sn->vm_state_size = (bs == bs1 ? vm_state_size : 0);
-            ret = bdrv_snapshot_create(bs1, sn, NULL);
+            ret = bdrv_snapshot_create(bs1, sn, &local_err);
             if (ret < 0) {
-                monitor_printf(mon, "Error while creating snapshot on '%s'\n",
-                               bdrv_get_device_name(bs1));
+                error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             }
         }
     }
 
+    info = g_malloc0(sizeof(SnapshotInfo));
+    info->id = g_strdup(sn->id_str);
+    info->name = g_strdup(sn->name);
+    info->date_nsec = sn->date_nsec;
+    info->date_sec = sn->date_sec;
+    info->vm_state_size = vm_state_size;
+    info->vm_clock_nsec = sn->vm_clock_nsec % 1000000000;
+    info->vm_clock_sec = sn->vm_clock_nsec / 1000000000;
+
  the_end:
     if (saved_vm_running)
         vm_start();
+
+    return info;
 }
 
 void qmp_xen_save_devices_state(const char *filename, Error **errp)
