diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 5340de0515..cbb05de8eb 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2879,6 +2879,7 @@ M: Gonglei <arei.gonglei@huawei.com>
 S: Maintained
 F: include/sysemu/cryptodev*.h
 F: backends/cryptodev*.c
+F: qapi/cryptodev.json
 
 Python library
 M: John Snow <jsnow@redhat.com>
diff --git a/backends/cryptodev-builtin.c b/backends/cryptodev-builtin.c
index cda6ca3b71..8c7c10847d 100644
--- a/backends/cryptodev-builtin.c
+++ b/backends/cryptodev-builtin.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static void cryptodev_builtin_init(
               "cryptodev-builtin", NULL);
     cc->info_str = g_strdup_printf("cryptodev-builtin0");
     cc->queue_index = 0;
-    cc->type = CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_BUILTIN;
+    cc->type = QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_BUILTIN;
     backend->conf.peers.ccs[0] = cc;
 
     backend->conf.crypto_services =
diff --git a/backends/cryptodev-lkcf.c b/backends/cryptodev-lkcf.c
index 133bd706a4..91e02c0df9 100644
--- a/backends/cryptodev-lkcf.c
+++ b/backends/cryptodev-lkcf.c
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ static void cryptodev_lkcf_init(CryptoDevBackend *backend, Error **errp)
     cc = cryptodev_backend_new_client("cryptodev-lkcf", NULL);
     cc->info_str = g_strdup_printf("cryptodev-lkcf0");
     cc->queue_index = 0;
-    cc->type = CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_LKCF;
+    cc->type = QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_LKCF;
     backend->conf.peers.ccs[0] = cc;
 
     backend->conf.crypto_services =
diff --git a/backends/cryptodev-vhost-user.c b/backends/cryptodev-vhost-user.c
index ab3028e045..c165a1b1d6 100644
--- a/backends/cryptodev-vhost-user.c
+++ b/backends/cryptodev-vhost-user.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ cryptodev_vhost_user_get_vhost(
 {
     CryptoDevBackendVhostUser *s =
                       CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_VHOST_USER(b);
-    assert(cc->type == CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER);
+    assert(cc->type == QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER);
     assert(queue < MAX_CRYPTO_QUEUE_NUM);
 
     return s->vhost_crypto[queue];
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ static void cryptodev_vhost_user_init(
         cc->info_str = g_strdup_printf("cryptodev-vhost-user%zu to %s ",
                                        i, chr->label);
         cc->queue_index = i;
-        cc->type = CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER;
+        cc->type = QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER;
 
         backend->conf.peers.ccs[i] = cc;
 
diff --git a/backends/cryptodev-vhost.c b/backends/cryptodev-vhost.c
index 74ea0ad63d..93523732f3 100644
--- a/backends/cryptodev-vhost.c
+++ b/backends/cryptodev-vhost.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ cryptodev_get_vhost(CryptoDevBackendClient *cc,
 
     switch (cc->type) {
 #if defined(CONFIG_VHOST_USER) && defined(CONFIG_LINUX)
-    case CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER:
+    case QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER:
         vhost_crypto = cryptodev_vhost_user_get_vhost(cc, b, queue);
         break;
 #endif
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ int cryptodev_vhost_start(VirtIODevice *dev, int total_queues)
          * because vhost user doesn't interrupt masking/unmasking
          * properly.
          */
-        if (cc->type == CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER) {
+        if (cc->type == QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER) {
             dev->use_guest_notifier_mask = false;
         }
      }
diff --git a/include/sysemu/cryptodev.h b/include/sysemu/cryptodev.h
index cf9b3f07fe..8d2adda974 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/cryptodev.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/cryptodev.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
 #include "qom/object.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-types-cryptodev.h"
 
 /**
  * CryptoDevBackend:
@@ -215,16 +216,8 @@ struct CryptoDevBackendClass {
                  void *opaque);
 };
 
-typedef enum CryptoDevBackendOptionsType {
-    CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_NONE = 0,
-    CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_BUILTIN = 1,
-    CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_VHOST_USER = 2,
-    CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE_LKCF = 3,
-    CRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE__MAX,
-} CryptoDevBackendOptionsType;
-
 struct CryptoDevBackendClient {
-    CryptoDevBackendOptionsType type;
+    QCryptodevBackendType type;
     char *model;
     char *name;
     char *info_str;
diff --git a/qapi/cryptodev.json b/qapi/cryptodev.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b65edbe183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qapi/cryptodev.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# -*- Mode: Python -*-
+# vim: filetype=python
+#
+# This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+# See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+
+##
+# @QCryptodevBackendType:
+#
+# The crypto device backend type
+#
+# @builtin: the QEMU builtin support
+# @vhost-user: vhost-user
+# @lkcf: Linux kernel cryptographic framework
+#
+# Since: 8.0
+##
+{ 'enum': 'QCryptodevBackendType',
+  'prefix': 'QCRYPTODEV_BACKEND_TYPE',
+  'data': ['builtin', 'vhost-user', 'lkcf']}
diff --git a/qapi/meson.build b/qapi/meson.build
index fbdb442fdf..1c37ae7491 100644
--- a/qapi/meson.build
+++ b/qapi/meson.build
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ if have_system
   qapi_all_modules += [
     'acpi',
     'audio',
+    'cryptodev',
     'qdev',
     'pci',
     'rdma',
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-schema.json b/qapi/qapi-schema.json
index f000b90744..1e923945db 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi/qapi-schema.json
@@ -95,3 +95,4 @@
 { 'include': 'pci.json' }
 { 'include': 'stats.json' }
 { 'include': 'virtio.json' }
+{ 'include': 'cryptodev.json' }