diff --git a/error.c b/error.c
index 648706aa67..2d34cde654 100644
--- a/error.c
+++ b/error.c
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ bool error_is_set(Error **errp)
     return (errp && *errp);
 }
 
+ErrorClass error_get_class(const Error *err)
+{
+    return err->err_class;
+}
+
 const char *error_get_pretty(Error *err)
 {
     return err->msg;
diff --git a/error.h b/error.h
index 9678752152..114e24b34b 100644
--- a/error.h
+++ b/error.h
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ void error_set(Error **err, ErrorClass err_class, const char *fmt, ...) GCC_FMT_
  */
 bool error_is_set(Error **err);
 
+/*
+ * Get the error class of an error object.
+ */
+ErrorClass error_get_class(const Error *err);
+
 /**
  * Returns an exact copy of the error passed as an argument.
  */