diff --git a/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h b/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
index 2bd8f292b2..51c338a43d 100644
--- a/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
+++ b/include/qapi/visitor-impl.h
@@ -14,6 +14,17 @@
 
 #include "qapi/visitor.h"
 
+/*
+ * There are three classes of visitors; setting the class determines
+ * how QAPI enums are visited, as well as what additional restrictions
+ * can be asserted.
+ */
+typedef enum VisitorType {
+    VISITOR_INPUT,
+    VISITOR_OUTPUT,
+    VISITOR_DEALLOC,
+} VisitorType;
+
 struct Visitor
 {
     /* Must be set */
@@ -35,10 +46,6 @@ struct Visitor
     /* Optional, needed for dealloc visitor.  */
     void (*end_alternate)(Visitor *v);
 
-    /* Must be set. */
-    void (*type_enum)(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                      const char *const strings[], Error **errp);
-
     /* Must be set. */
     void (*type_int64)(Visitor *v, const char *name, int64_t *obj,
                        Error **errp);
@@ -58,11 +65,9 @@ struct Visitor
 
     /* May be NULL; most useful for input visitors. */
     void (*optional)(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *present);
+
+    /* Must be set */
+    VisitorType type;
 };
 
-void input_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                     const char *const strings[], Error **errp);
-void output_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                      const char *const strings[], Error **errp);
-
 #endif
diff --git a/include/qapi/visitor.h b/include/qapi/visitor.h
index 9a8d0105fb..690589f37d 100644
--- a/include/qapi/visitor.h
+++ b/include/qapi/visitor.h
@@ -78,8 +78,19 @@ void visit_end_alternate(Visitor *v);
  */
 bool visit_optional(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *present);
 
+/*
+ * Visit an enum value.
+ *
+ * @strings expresses the mapping between C enum values and QAPI enum
+ * names; it should be the ENUM_lookup array from visit-types.h.
+ *
+ * May call visit_type_str() under the hood, and the enum visit may
+ * fail even if the corresponding string visit succeeded; this implies
+ * that visit_type_str() must have no unwelcome side effects.
+ */
 void visit_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
                      const char *const strings[], Error **errp);
+
 void visit_type_int(Visitor *v, const char *name, int64_t *obj, Error **errp);
 void visit_type_uint8(Visitor *v, const char *name, uint8_t *obj,
                       Error **errp);
diff --git a/qapi/opts-visitor.c b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
index 602f2609cc..66aeaed87e 100644
--- a/qapi/opts-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
@@ -317,6 +317,11 @@ opts_type_str(Visitor *v, const char *name, char **obj, Error **errp)
         return;
     }
     *obj = g_strdup(opt->str ? opt->str : "");
+    /* Note that we consume a string even if this is called as part of
+     * an enum visit that later fails because the string is not a
+     * valid enum value; this is harmless because tracking what gets
+     * consumed only matters to visit_end_struct() as the final error
+     * check if there were no other failures during the visit.  */
     processed(ov, name);
 }
 
@@ -507,6 +512,8 @@ opts_visitor_new(const QemuOpts *opts)
 
     ov = g_malloc0(sizeof *ov);
 
+    ov->visitor.type = VISITOR_INPUT;
+
     ov->visitor.start_struct = &opts_start_struct;
     ov->visitor.end_struct   = &opts_end_struct;
 
@@ -514,16 +521,6 @@ opts_visitor_new(const QemuOpts *opts)
     ov->visitor.next_list  = &opts_next_list;
     ov->visitor.end_list   = &opts_end_list;
 
-    /* input_type_enum() covers both "normal" enums and union discriminators.
-     * The union discriminator field is always generated as "type"; it should
-     * match the "type" QemuOpt child of any QemuOpts.
-     *
-     * input_type_enum() will remove the looked-up key from the
-     * "unprocessed_opts" hash even if the lookup fails, because the removal is
-     * done earlier in opts_type_str(). This should be harmless.
-     */
-    ov->visitor.type_enum = &input_type_enum;
-
     ov->visitor.type_int64  = &opts_type_int64;
     ov->visitor.type_uint64 = &opts_type_uint64;
     ov->visitor.type_size   = &opts_type_size;
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-dealloc-visitor.c b/qapi/qapi-dealloc-visitor.c
index 69221794ec..c19a459391 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-dealloc-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-dealloc-visitor.c
@@ -163,11 +163,6 @@ static void qapi_dealloc_type_anything(Visitor *v, const char *name,
     }
 }
 
-static void qapi_dealloc_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                                   const char * const strings[], Error **errp)
-{
-}
-
 Visitor *qapi_dealloc_get_visitor(QapiDeallocVisitor *v)
 {
     return &v->visitor;
@@ -184,6 +179,7 @@ QapiDeallocVisitor *qapi_dealloc_visitor_new(void)
 
     v = g_malloc0(sizeof(*v));
 
+    v->visitor.type = VISITOR_DEALLOC;
     v->visitor.start_struct = qapi_dealloc_start_struct;
     v->visitor.end_struct = qapi_dealloc_end_struct;
     v->visitor.start_alternate = qapi_dealloc_start_alternate;
@@ -191,7 +187,6 @@ QapiDeallocVisitor *qapi_dealloc_visitor_new(void)
     v->visitor.start_list = qapi_dealloc_start_list;
     v->visitor.next_list = qapi_dealloc_next_list;
     v->visitor.end_list = qapi_dealloc_end_list;
-    v->visitor.type_enum = qapi_dealloc_type_enum;
     v->visitor.type_int64 = qapi_dealloc_type_int64;
     v->visitor.type_uint64 = qapi_dealloc_type_uint64;
     v->visitor.type_bool = qapi_dealloc_type_bool;
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
index fa680c9991..3cd7edcc12 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-visit-core.c
@@ -72,12 +72,6 @@ bool visit_optional(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *present)
     return *present;
 }
 
-void visit_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                     const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
-{
-    v->type_enum(v, name, obj, strings, errp);
-}
-
 void visit_type_int(Visitor *v, const char *name, int64_t *obj, Error **errp)
 {
     v->type_int64(v, name, obj, errp);
@@ -208,14 +202,13 @@ void visit_type_any(Visitor *v, const char *name, QObject **obj, Error **errp)
     v->type_any(v, name, obj, errp);
 }
 
-void output_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                      const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
+static void output_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
+                             const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
 {
     int i = 0;
     int value = *obj;
     char *enum_str;
 
-    assert(strings);
     while (strings[i++] != NULL);
     if (value < 0 || value >= i - 1) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER, name ? name : "null");
@@ -226,15 +219,13 @@ void output_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
     visit_type_str(v, name, &enum_str, errp);
 }
 
-void input_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
-                     const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
+static void input_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
+                            const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
 {
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     int64_t value = 0;
     char *enum_str;
 
-    assert(strings);
-
     visit_type_str(v, name, &enum_str, &local_err);
     if (local_err) {
         error_propagate(errp, local_err);
@@ -257,3 +248,14 @@ void input_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
     g_free(enum_str);
     *obj = value;
 }
+
+void visit_type_enum(Visitor *v, const char *name, int *obj,
+                     const char *const strings[], Error **errp)
+{
+    assert(strings);
+    if (v->type == VISITOR_INPUT) {
+        input_type_enum(v, name, obj, strings, errp);
+    } else if (v->type == VISITOR_OUTPUT) {
+        output_type_enum(v, name, obj, strings, errp);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
index 7cd1b777a0..02d4233463 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-input-visitor.c
@@ -339,13 +339,13 @@ QmpInputVisitor *qmp_input_visitor_new(QObject *obj)
 
     v = g_malloc0(sizeof(*v));
 
+    v->visitor.type = VISITOR_INPUT;
     v->visitor.start_struct = qmp_input_start_struct;
     v->visitor.end_struct = qmp_input_end_struct;
     v->visitor.start_list = qmp_input_start_list;
     v->visitor.next_list = qmp_input_next_list;
     v->visitor.end_list = qmp_input_end_list;
     v->visitor.start_alternate = qmp_input_start_alternate;
-    v->visitor.type_enum = input_type_enum;
     v->visitor.type_int64 = qmp_input_type_int64;
     v->visitor.type_uint64 = qmp_input_type_uint64;
     v->visitor.type_bool = qmp_input_type_bool;
diff --git a/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c b/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
index d44c676317..1f2a7ba646 100644
--- a/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qmp-output-visitor.c
@@ -234,12 +234,12 @@ QmpOutputVisitor *qmp_output_visitor_new(void)
 
     v = g_malloc0(sizeof(*v));
 
+    v->visitor.type = VISITOR_OUTPUT;
     v->visitor.start_struct = qmp_output_start_struct;
     v->visitor.end_struct = qmp_output_end_struct;
     v->visitor.start_list = qmp_output_start_list;
     v->visitor.next_list = qmp_output_next_list;
     v->visitor.end_list = qmp_output_end_list;
-    v->visitor.type_enum = output_type_enum;
     v->visitor.type_int64 = qmp_output_type_int64;
     v->visitor.type_uint64 = qmp_output_type_uint64;
     v->visitor.type_bool = qmp_output_type_bool;
diff --git a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
index 5ea2d77b5a..97009a6dc7 100644
--- a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ StringInputVisitor *string_input_visitor_new(const char *str)
 
     v = g_malloc0(sizeof(*v));
 
-    v->visitor.type_enum = input_type_enum;
+    v->visitor.type = VISITOR_INPUT;
     v->visitor.type_int64 = parse_type_int64;
     v->visitor.type_uint64 = parse_type_uint64;
     v->visitor.type_size = parse_type_size;
diff --git a/qapi/string-output-visitor.c b/qapi/string-output-visitor.c
index c2e5c5b92b..0d44d7e6a5 100644
--- a/qapi/string-output-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/string-output-visitor.c
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ StringOutputVisitor *string_output_visitor_new(bool human)
 
     v->string = g_string_new(NULL);
     v->human = human;
-    v->visitor.type_enum = output_type_enum;
+    v->visitor.type = VISITOR_OUTPUT;
     v->visitor.type_int64 = print_type_int64;
     v->visitor.type_uint64 = print_type_uint64;
     v->visitor.type_size = print_type_size;