diff --git a/qemu-nbd.c b/qemu-nbd.c
index ede4a54..8e5d36c 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.c
+++ b/qemu-nbd.c
@@ -23,9 +23,12 @@
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "qemu/sockets.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include "qemu/config-file.h"
 #include "block/snapshot.h"
 #include "qapi/util.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qstring.h"
+#include "qapi/opts-visitor.h"
+#include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
 
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -44,6 +47,7 @@
 #define QEMU_NBD_OPT_AIO           2
 #define QEMU_NBD_OPT_DISCARD       3
 #define QEMU_NBD_OPT_DETECT_ZEROES 4
+#define QEMU_NBD_OPT_OBJECT        5
 
 static NBDExport *exp;
 static int verbose;
@@ -77,6 +81,9 @@ static void usage(const char *name)
 "  -o, --offset=OFFSET       offset into the image\n"
 "  -P, --partition=NUM       only expose partition NUM\n"
 "\n"
+"General purpose options:\n"
+"  --object type,id=ID,...   define an object such as 'secret' for providing\n"
+"                            passwords and/or encryption keys\n"
 #ifdef __linux__
 "Kernel NBD client support:\n"
 "  -c, --connect=DEV         connect FILE to the local NBD device DEV\n"
@@ -374,6 +381,35 @@ static SocketAddress *nbd_build_socket_address(const char *sockpath,
 }
 
 
+static QemuOptsList qemu_object_opts = {
+    .name = "object",
+    .implied_opt_name = "qom-type",
+    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qemu_object_opts.head),
+    .desc = {
+        { }
+    },
+};
+
+static int object_create(void *opaque, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
+{
+    Error *err = NULL;
+    OptsVisitor *ov;
+    QDict *pdict;
+
+    ov = opts_visitor_new(opts);
+    pdict = qemu_opts_to_qdict(opts, NULL);
+
+    user_creatable_add(pdict, opts_get_visitor(ov), &err);
+    opts_visitor_cleanup(ov);
+    QDECREF(pdict);
+
+    if (err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, err);
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     BlockBackend *blk;
@@ -411,6 +447,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         { "format", 1, NULL, 'f' },
         { "persistent", 0, NULL, 't' },
         { "verbose", 0, NULL, 'v' },
+        { "object", 1, NULL, QEMU_NBD_OPT_OBJECT },
         { NULL, 0, NULL, 0 }
     };
     int ch;
@@ -428,6 +465,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions detect_zeroes = BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_OFF;
     QDict *options = NULL;
+    QemuOpts *opts;
 
     /* The client thread uses SIGTERM to interrupt the server.  A signal
      * handler ensures that "qemu-nbd -v -c" exits with a nice status code.
@@ -436,6 +474,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     memset(&sa_sigterm, 0, sizeof(sa_sigterm));
     sa_sigterm.sa_handler = termsig_handler;
     sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa_sigterm, NULL);
+    module_call_init(MODULE_INIT_QOM);
+    qemu_add_opts(&qemu_object_opts);
     qemu_init_exec_dir(argv[0]);
 
     while ((ch = getopt_long(argc, argv, sopt, lopt, &opt_ind)) != -1) {
@@ -588,6 +628,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             usage(argv[0]);
             exit(0);
             break;
+        case QEMU_NBD_OPT_OBJECT:
+            opts = qemu_opts_parse_noisily(qemu_find_opts("object"),
+                                           optarg, true);
+            if (!opts) {
+                exit(1);
+            }
+            break;
         case '?':
             error_report("Try `%s --help' for more information.", argv[0]);
             exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -600,6 +647,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
+    if (qemu_opts_foreach(qemu_find_opts("object"),
+                          object_create,
+                          NULL, &local_err)) {
+        error_report_err(local_err);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
     if (disconnect) {
         fd = open(argv[optind], O_RDWR);
         if (fd < 0) {
diff --git a/qemu-nbd.texi b/qemu-nbd.texi
index 46fd483..9f9daca 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.texi
+++ b/qemu-nbd.texi
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ Export QEMU disk image using NBD protocol.
 @table @option
 @item @var{filename}
  is a disk image filename
+@item --object type,id=@var{id},...props...
+  define a new instance of the @var{type} object class identified by @var{id}.
+  See the @code{qemu(1)} manual page for full details of the properties
+  supported. The common object type that it makes sense to define is the
+  @code{secret} object, which is used to supply passwords and/or encryption
+  keys.
 @item -p, --port=@var{port}
   port to listen on (default @samp{10809})
 @item -o, --offset=@var{offset}
