diff --git a/src/internal.h b/src/internal.h
index cf03a82105..5a868bb00c 100644
--- a/src/internal.h
+++ b/src/internal.h
@@ -279,6 +279,21 @@
         (b) = NULL; \
     } while (0)
 
+/**
+ * VIR_RETURN_PTR:
+ * @ret: pointer to return
+ *
+ * Returns value of @ret while clearing @ret. This ensures that pointers
+ * freed by using VIR_AUTOPTR can be easily passed back to the caller without
+ * any temporary variable. @ptr is evaluated more than once.
+ */
+# define VIR_RETURN_PTR(ptr) \
+    do { \
+        typeof(ptr) virTemporaryReturnPointer = (ptr); \
+        (ptr) = NULL; \
+        return virTemporaryReturnPointer; \
+    } while (0)
+
 /**
  * virCheckFlags:
  * @supported: an OR'ed set of supported flags