diff --git a/include/qapi/visitor.h b/include/qapi/visitor.h
index 9be60d428d..a14a16d755 100644
--- a/include/qapi/visitor.h
+++ b/include/qapi/visitor.h
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ void visit_end_list(Visitor *v, Error **errp);
  * Check if an optional member @name of an object needs visiting.
  * For input visitors, set *@present according to whether the
  * corresponding visit_type_*() needs calling; for other visitors,
- * leave *@present unchanged.
+ * leave *@present unchanged.  Return *@present for convenience.
  */
-void visit_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name);
+bool visit_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name);
 
 /**
  * Determine the qtype of the item @name in the current object visit.
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
index e07d6f962f..6d63e40234 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
@@ -73,11 +73,12 @@ void visit_end_union(Visitor *v, bool data_present, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
-void visit_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name)
+bool visit_optional(Visitor *v, bool *present, const char *name)
 {
     if (v->optional) {
         v->optional(v, present, name);
     }
+    return *present;
 }
 
 void visit_get_next_type(Visitor *v, QType *type, bool promote_int,
diff --git a/scripts/qapi.py b/scripts/qapi.py
index 8bf41db4e2..58ecdf2a95 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi.py
@@ -1656,8 +1656,7 @@ def gen_visit_fields(members, prefix='', need_cast=False, skiperr=False):
     for memb in members:
         if memb.optional:
             ret += mcgen('''
-    visit_optional(v, &%(prefix)shas_%(c_name)s, "%(name)s");
-    if (%(prefix)shas_%(c_name)s) {
+    if (visit_optional(v, &%(prefix)shas_%(c_name)s, "%(name)s")) {
 ''',
                          prefix=prefix, c_name=c_name(memb.name),
                          name=memb.name, errp=errparg)