diff --git a/include/ui/qemu-pixman.h b/include/ui/qemu-pixman.h
index 090a3e2e8f..80ed94a05f 100644
--- a/include/ui/qemu-pixman.h
+++ b/include/ui/qemu-pixman.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
 PixelFormat qemu_pixelformat_from_pixman(pixman_format_code_t format);
+pixman_format_code_t qemu_default_pixman_format(int bpp, bool native_endian);
 int qemu_pixman_get_type(int rshift, int gshift, int bshift);
 pixman_format_code_t qemu_pixman_get_format(PixelFormat *pf);
 
diff --git a/ui/qemu-pixman.c b/ui/qemu-pixman.c
index bdc1439e09..5d8bd46ed2 100644
--- a/ui/qemu-pixman.c
+++ b/ui/qemu-pixman.c
@@ -62,6 +62,31 @@ PixelFormat qemu_pixelformat_from_pixman(pixman_format_code_t format)
     return pf;
 }
 
+pixman_format_code_t qemu_default_pixman_format(int bpp, bool native_endian)
+{
+    if (native_endian) {
+        switch (bpp) {
+        case 15:
+            return PIXMAN_x1r5g5b5;
+        case 16:
+            return PIXMAN_r5g6b5;
+        case 24:
+            return PIXMAN_r8g8b8;
+        case 32:
+            return PIXMAN_x8r8g8b8;
+        }
+    } else {
+        switch (bpp) {
+        case 24:
+            return PIXMAN_b8g8r8;
+        case 32:
+            return PIXMAN_b8g8r8a8;
+        break;
+        }
+    }
+    g_assert_not_reached();
+}
+
 int qemu_pixman_get_type(int rshift, int gshift, int bshift)
 {
     int type = PIXMAN_TYPE_OTHER;