diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index 25302f571d..30c6cc9511 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -80,3 +80,16 @@ void hmp_info_uuid(Monitor *mon)
     monitor_printf(mon, "%s\n", info->UUID);
     qapi_free_UuidInfo(info);
 }
+
+void hmp_info_chardev(Monitor *mon)
+{
+    ChardevInfoList *char_info, *info;
+
+    char_info = qmp_query_chardev(NULL);
+    for (info = char_info; info; info = info->next) {
+        monitor_printf(mon, "%s: filename=%s\n", info->value->label,
+                                                 info->value->filename);
+    }
+
+    qapi_free_ChardevInfoList(char_info);
+}
diff --git a/hmp.h b/hmp.h
index 49a59712d3..7388f9a6ea 100644
--- a/hmp.h
+++ b/hmp.h
@@ -22,5 +22,6 @@ void hmp_info_version(Monitor *mon);
 void hmp_info_kvm(Monitor *mon);
 void hmp_info_status(Monitor *mon);
 void hmp_info_uuid(Monitor *mon);
+void hmp_info_chardev(Monitor *mon);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/monitor.c b/monitor.c
index 4e9ecdfea3..86a0dad2cb 100644
--- a/monitor.c
+++ b/monitor.c
@@ -2783,8 +2783,7 @@ static const mon_cmd_t info_cmds[] = {
         .args_type  = "",
         .params     = "",
         .help       = "show the character devices",
-        .user_print = qemu_chr_info_print,
-        .mhandler.info_new = qemu_chr_info,
+        .mhandler.info = hmp_info_chardev,
     },
     {
         .name       = "block",
@@ -3072,14 +3071,6 @@ static const mon_cmd_t qmp_query_cmds[] = {
         .user_print = monitor_user_noop,
         .mhandler.info_new = do_info_commands,
     },
-    {
-        .name       = "chardev",
-        .args_type  = "",
-        .params     = "",
-        .help       = "show the character devices",
-        .user_print = qemu_chr_info_print,
-        .mhandler.info_new = qemu_chr_info,
-    },
     {
         .name       = "block",
         .args_type  = "",
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index b717491bbc..cf55504378 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -176,3 +176,29 @@
 ##
 { 'command': 'query-uuid', 'returns': 'UuidInfo' }
 
+##
+# @ChardevInfo:
+#
+# Information about a character device.
+#
+# @label: the label of the character device
+#
+# @filename: the filename of the character device
+#
+# Notes: @filename is encoded using the QEMU command line character device
+#        encoding.  See the QEMU man page for details.
+#
+# Since: 0.14.0
+##
+{ 'type': 'ChardevInfo', 'data': {'label': 'str', 'filename': 'str'} }
+
+##
+# @query-chardev:
+#
+# Returns information about current character devices.
+#
+# Returns: a list of @ChardevInfo
+#
+# Since: 0.14.0
+##
+{ 'command': 'query-chardev', 'returns': ['ChardevInfo'] }
diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index 09d2309eb6..8bdbcfdad2 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 #include "hw/usb.h"
 #include "hw/baum.h"
 #include "hw/msmouse.h"
-#include "qemu-objects.h"
+#include "qmp-commands.h"
 
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
@@ -2650,35 +2650,22 @@ void qemu_chr_delete(CharDriverState *chr)
     g_free(chr);
 }
 
-static void qemu_chr_qlist_iter(QObject *obj, void *opaque)
+ChardevInfoList *qmp_query_chardev(Error **errp)
 {
-    QDict *chr_dict;
-    Monitor *mon = opaque;
-
-    chr_dict = qobject_to_qdict(obj);
-    monitor_printf(mon, "%s: filename=%s\n", qdict_get_str(chr_dict, "label"),
-                                         qdict_get_str(chr_dict, "filename"));
-}
-
-void qemu_chr_info_print(Monitor *mon, const QObject *ret_data)
-{
-    qlist_iter(qobject_to_qlist(ret_data), qemu_chr_qlist_iter, mon);
-}
-
-void qemu_chr_info(Monitor *mon, QObject **ret_data)
-{
-    QList *chr_list;
+    ChardevInfoList *chr_list = NULL;
     CharDriverState *chr;
 
-    chr_list = qlist_new();
-
     QTAILQ_FOREACH(chr, &chardevs, next) {
-        QObject *obj = qobject_from_jsonf("{ 'label': %s, 'filename': %s }",
-                                          chr->label, chr->filename);
-        qlist_append_obj(chr_list, obj);
+        ChardevInfoList *info = g_malloc0(sizeof(*info));
+        info->value = g_malloc0(sizeof(*info->value));
+        info->value->label = g_strdup(chr->label);
+        info->value->filename = g_strdup(chr->filename);
+
+        info->next = chr_list;
+        chr_list = info;
     }
 
-    *ret_data = QOBJECT(chr_list);
+    return chr_list;
 }
 
 CharDriverState *qemu_chr_find(const char *name)
diff --git a/qmp-commands.hx b/qmp-commands.hx
index 4fef25f4c7..dfc02af375 100644
--- a/qmp-commands.hx
+++ b/qmp-commands.hx
@@ -1120,6 +1120,12 @@ Example:
 
 EQMP
 
+    {
+        .name       = "query-chardev",
+        .args_type  = "",
+        .mhandler.cmd_new = qmp_marshal_input_query_chardev,
+    },
+
 SQMP
 query-block
 -----------