diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 476a4b71cc..e8cd95cb7e 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -1542,8 +1542,18 @@ static int net_param_nic(void *dummy, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     const char *type;
 
     type = qemu_opt_get(opts, "type");
-    if (type && g_str_equal(type, "none")) {
-        return 0;    /* Nothing to do, default_net is cleared in vl.c */
+    if (type) {
+        if (g_str_equal(type, "none")) {
+            return 0;    /* Nothing to do, default_net is cleared in vl.c */
+        }
+        if (is_help_option(type)) {
+            GPtrArray *nic_models = qemu_get_nic_models(TYPE_DEVICE);
+            show_netdevs();
+            printf("\n");
+            qemu_show_nic_models(type, (const char **)nic_models->pdata);
+            g_ptr_array_free(nic_models, true);
+            exit(0);
+        }
     }
 
     idx = nic_get_free_idx();