diff --git a/src/libvirt_remote.syms b/src/libvirt_remote.syms
index 9a33626ec6..704f7ea101 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_remote.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_remote.syms
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ virNetClientRemoteAddrStringSASL;
 virNetClientRemoveStream;
 virNetClientSendNonBlock;
 virNetClientSendNoReply;
+virNetClientSendStream;
 virNetClientSendWithReply;
-virNetClientSendWithReplyStream;
 virNetClientSetCloseCallback;
 virNetClientSetTLSSession;
 
diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
index 7aa52233cc..29c4dc5965 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclient.c
@@ -2205,18 +2205,21 @@ int virNetClientSendNonBlock(virNetClientPtr client,
 /*
  * @msg: a message allocated on heap or stack
  *
- * Send a message synchronously, and wait for the reply synchronously
+ * Send a message synchronously, and wait for the reply synchronously if
+ * message is dummy (just to wait for incoming data) or abort/finish message.
  *
  * The caller is responsible for free'ing @msg if it was allocated
  * on the heap
  *
  * Returns 0 on success, -1 on failure
  */
-int virNetClientSendWithReplyStream(virNetClientPtr client,
-                                    virNetMessagePtr msg,
-                                    virNetClientStreamPtr st)
+int virNetClientSendStream(virNetClientPtr client,
+                           virNetMessagePtr msg,
+                           virNetClientStreamPtr st)
 {
     int ret = -1;
+    bool expectReply = !msg->bufferLength ||
+                       msg->header.status != VIR_NET_CONTINUE;
 
     virObjectLock(client);
 
@@ -2229,7 +2232,7 @@ int virNetClientSendWithReplyStream(virNetClientPtr client,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (virNetClientSendInternal(client, msg, true, false) < 0)
+    if (virNetClientSendInternal(client, msg, expectReply, false) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     ret = 0;
diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclient.h b/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
index 39a6176d3e..12ac2b51a3 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclient.h
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@ int virNetClientSendNoReply(virNetClientPtr client,
 int virNetClientSendNonBlock(virNetClientPtr client,
                              virNetMessagePtr msg);
 
-int virNetClientSendWithReplyStream(virNetClientPtr client,
-                                    virNetMessagePtr msg,
-                                    virNetClientStreamPtr st);
+int virNetClientSendStream(virNetClientPtr client,
+                           virNetMessagePtr msg,
+                           virNetClientStreamPtr st);
 
 # ifdef WITH_SASL
 void virNetClientSetSASLSession(virNetClientPtr client,
diff --git a/src/rpc/virnetclientstream.c b/src/rpc/virnetclientstream.c
index 3b0db526d1..65aa583b0a 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnetclientstream.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnetclientstream.c
@@ -343,17 +343,13 @@ int virNetClientStreamSendPacket(virNetClientStreamPtr st,
     if (status == VIR_NET_CONTINUE) {
         if (virNetMessageEncodePayloadRaw(msg, data, nbytes) < 0)
             goto error;
-
-        if (virNetClientSendNoReply(client, msg) < 0)
-            goto error;
     } else {
         if (virNetMessageEncodePayloadRaw(msg, NULL, 0) < 0)
             goto error;
-
-        if (virNetClientSendWithReplyStream(client, msg, st) < 0)
-            goto error;
     }
 
+    if (virNetClientSendStream(client, msg, st) < 0)
+        goto error;
 
     virNetMessageFree(msg);
 
@@ -500,7 +496,7 @@ int virNetClientStreamRecvPacket(virNetClientStreamPtr st,
 
         VIR_DEBUG("Dummy packet to wait for stream data");
         virObjectUnlock(st);
-        ret = virNetClientSendWithReplyStream(client, msg, st);
+        ret = virNetClientSendStream(client, msg, st);
         virObjectLock(st);
         virNetMessageFree(msg);
 
@@ -627,7 +623,7 @@ virNetClientStreamSendHole(virNetClientStreamPtr st,
                                    &data) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (virNetClientSendNoReply(client, msg) < 0)
+    if (virNetClientSendStream(client, msg, st) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
     ret = 0;