diff --git a/include/qapi/util.h b/include/qapi/util.h
index bc312e90aa..6178e98e97 100644
--- a/include/qapi/util.h
+++ b/include/qapi/util.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ typedef struct QEnumLookup {
 const char *qapi_enum_lookup(const QEnumLookup *lookup, int val);
 int qapi_enum_parse(const QEnumLookup *lookup, const char *buf,
                     int def, Error **errp);
+bool qapi_bool_parse(const char *name, const char *value, bool *obj,
+                     Error **errp);
 
 int parse_qapi_name(const char *name, bool complete);
 
diff --git a/qapi/opts-visitor.c b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
index 7781c23a42..587f31baf6 100644
--- a/qapi/opts-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/opts-visitor.c
@@ -368,7 +368,6 @@ opts_type_str(Visitor *v, const char *name, char **obj, Error **errp)
 }
 
 
-/* mimics qemu-option.c::parse_option_bool() */
 static bool
 opts_type_bool(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *obj, Error **errp)
 {
@@ -379,19 +378,8 @@ opts_type_bool(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *obj, Error **errp)
     if (!opt) {
         return false;
     }
-
     if (opt->str) {
-        if (strcmp(opt->str, "on") == 0 ||
-            strcmp(opt->str, "yes") == 0 ||
-            strcmp(opt->str, "y") == 0) {
-            *obj = true;
-        } else if (strcmp(opt->str, "off") == 0 ||
-            strcmp(opt->str, "no") == 0 ||
-            strcmp(opt->str, "n") == 0) {
-            *obj = false;
-        } else {
-            error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, opt->name,
-                       "on|yes|y|off|no|n");
+        if (!qapi_bool_parse(opt->name, opt->str, obj, errp)) {
             return false;
         }
     } else {
diff --git a/qapi/qapi-util.c b/qapi/qapi-util.c
index 29a6c98b53..4dd8f6c313 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-util.c
+++ b/qapi/qapi-util.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qemu/ctype.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/qerror.h"
 
 const char *qapi_enum_lookup(const QEnumLookup *lookup, int val)
 {
@@ -40,6 +41,28 @@ int qapi_enum_parse(const QEnumLookup *lookup, const char *buf,
     return def;
 }
 
+bool qapi_bool_parse(const char *name, const char *value, bool *obj, Error **errp)
+{
+    if (!strcasecmp(value, "on") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "yes") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "true") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "y")) {
+        *obj = true;
+        return true;
+    }
+    if (!strcasecmp(value, "off") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "no") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "false") ||
+        !strcasecmp(value, "n")) {
+        *obj = false;
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, name,
+               "boolean (on/off, yes/no, true/false, y/n)");
+    return false;
+}
+
 /*
  * Parse a valid QAPI name from @str.
  * A valid name consists of letters, digits, hyphen and underscore.
diff --git a/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c b/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
index 7b184b50a7..f4541a4fdd 100644
--- a/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/qobject-input-visitor.c
@@ -512,16 +512,11 @@ static bool qobject_input_type_bool_keyval(Visitor *v, const char *name,
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (!strcmp(str, "on")) {
-        *obj = true;
-    } else if (!strcmp(str, "off")) {
-        *obj = false;
-    } else {
-        error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE,
-                   full_name(qiv, name), "'on' or 'off'");
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
+    /*
+     * Calling full_name is a bit slow, but keyval (human/CLI) parsing
+     * is not a hot path.
+     */
+    return qapi_bool_parse(full_name(qiv, name), str, obj, errp);
 }
 
 static bool qobject_input_type_str(Visitor *v, const char *name, char **obj,
diff --git a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
index 6e53396ea3..197139c1c0 100644
--- a/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
+++ b/qapi/string-input-visitor.c
@@ -332,22 +332,7 @@ static bool parse_type_bool(Visitor *v, const char *name, bool *obj,
     StringInputVisitor *siv = to_siv(v);
 
     assert(siv->lm == LM_NONE);
-    if (!strcasecmp(siv->string, "on") ||
-        !strcasecmp(siv->string, "yes") ||
-        !strcasecmp(siv->string, "true")) {
-        *obj = true;
-        return true;
-    }
-    if (!strcasecmp(siv->string, "off") ||
-        !strcasecmp(siv->string, "no") ||
-        !strcasecmp(siv->string, "false")) {
-        *obj = false;
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_TYPE, name ? name : "null",
-               "boolean");
-    return false;
+    return qapi_bool_parse(name ? name : "null", siv->string, obj, errp);
 }
 
 static bool parse_type_str(Visitor *v, const char *name, char **obj,
diff --git a/util/qemu-option.c b/util/qemu-option.c
index b9f93a7f8b..acefbc23fa 100644
--- a/util/qemu-option.c
+++ b/util/qemu-option.c
@@ -96,21 +96,6 @@ const char *get_opt_value(const char *p, char **value)
     return offset;
 }
 
-static bool parse_option_bool(const char *name, const char *value, bool *ret,
-                              Error **errp)
-{
-    if (!strcmp(value, "on")) {
-        *ret = 1;
-    } else if (!strcmp(value, "off")) {
-        *ret = 0;
-    } else {
-        error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE,
-                   name, "'on' or 'off'");
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
 static bool parse_option_number(const char *name, const char *value,
                                 uint64_t *ret, Error **errp)
 {
@@ -363,7 +348,7 @@ static bool qemu_opt_get_bool_helper(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name,
     if (opt == NULL) {
         def_val = find_default_by_name(opts, name);
         if (def_val) {
-            parse_option_bool(name, def_val, &ret, &error_abort);
+            qapi_bool_parse(name, def_val, &ret, &error_abort);
         }
         return ret;
     }
@@ -471,8 +456,7 @@ static bool qemu_opt_parse(QemuOpt *opt, Error **errp)
         /* nothing */
         return true;
     case QEMU_OPT_BOOL:
-        return parse_option_bool(opt->name, opt->str, &opt->value.boolean,
-                                 errp);
+        return qapi_bool_parse(opt->name, opt->str, &opt->value.boolean, errp);
     case QEMU_OPT_NUMBER:
         return parse_option_number(opt->name, opt->str, &opt->value.uint,
                                    errp);
