diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.c b/src/util/vircgroup.c
index f8bddc360d..0100372c66 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.c
@@ -1693,14 +1693,7 @@ virCgroupGetMemSwapHardLimit(virCgroupPtr group, unsigned long long *kb)
 int
 virCgroupGetMemSwapUsage(virCgroupPtr group, unsigned long long *kb)
 {
-    long long unsigned int usage_in_bytes;
-    int ret;
-    ret = virCgroupGetValueU64(group,
-                               VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_MEMORY,
-                               "memory.memsw.usage_in_bytes", &usage_in_bytes);
-    if (ret == 0)
-        *kb = usage_in_bytes >> 10;
-    return ret;
+    VIR_CGROUP_BACKEND_CALL(group, getMemSwapUsage, -1, kb);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/util/vircgroupbackend.h b/src/util/vircgroupbackend.h
index cdbca4b907..27e6b18ea2 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroupbackend.h
+++ b/src/util/vircgroupbackend.h
@@ -251,6 +251,10 @@ typedef int
 (*virCgroupGetMemSwapHardLimitCB)(virCgroupPtr group,
                                   unsigned long long *kb);
 
+typedef int
+(*virCgroupGetMemSwapUsageCB)(virCgroupPtr group,
+                              unsigned long long *kb);
+
 struct _virCgroupBackend {
     virCgroupBackendType type;
 
@@ -299,6 +303,7 @@ struct _virCgroupBackend {
     virCgroupGetMemorySoftLimitCB getMemorySoftLimit;
     virCgroupSetMemSwapHardLimitCB setMemSwapHardLimit;
     virCgroupGetMemSwapHardLimitCB getMemSwapHardLimit;
+    virCgroupGetMemSwapUsageCB getMemSwapUsage;
 };
 typedef struct _virCgroupBackend virCgroupBackend;
 typedef virCgroupBackend *virCgroupBackendPtr;
diff --git a/src/util/vircgroupv1.c b/src/util/vircgroupv1.c
index 17654f62d7..3294760420 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroupv1.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroupv1.c
@@ -1655,6 +1655,21 @@ virCgroupV1GetMemSwapHardLimit(virCgroupPtr group,
 }
 
 
+static int
+virCgroupV1GetMemSwapUsage(virCgroupPtr group,
+                           unsigned long long *kb)
+{
+    long long unsigned int usage_in_bytes;
+    int ret;
+    ret = virCgroupGetValueU64(group,
+                               VIR_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_MEMORY,
+                               "memory.memsw.usage_in_bytes", &usage_in_bytes);
+    if (ret == 0)
+        *kb = usage_in_bytes >> 10;
+    return ret;
+}
+
+
 virCgroupBackend virCgroupV1Backend = {
     .type = VIR_CGROUP_BACKEND_TYPE_V1,
 
@@ -1701,6 +1716,7 @@ virCgroupBackend virCgroupV1Backend = {
     .getMemorySoftLimit = virCgroupV1GetMemorySoftLimit,
     .setMemSwapHardLimit = virCgroupV1SetMemSwapHardLimit,
     .getMemSwapHardLimit = virCgroupV1GetMemSwapHardLimit,
+    .getMemSwapUsage = virCgroupV1GetMemSwapUsage,
 };