diff --git a/include/osmocom/ctrl/control_cmd.h b/include/osmocom/ctrl/control_cmd.h
index 08376f3c5..93055c7ce 100644
--- a/include/osmocom/ctrl/control_cmd.h
+++ b/include/osmocom/ctrl/control_cmd.h
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ int ctrl_cmd_exec(vector vline, struct ctrl_cmd *command, vector node, void *dat
 int ctrl_cmd_install(enum ctrl_node_type node, struct ctrl_cmd_element *cmd);
 int ctrl_cmd_send(struct osmo_wqueue *queue, struct ctrl_cmd *cmd);
 int ctrl_cmd_send_to_all(struct ctrl_handle *ctrl, struct ctrl_cmd *cmd);
+struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse3(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg, bool *parse_failed);
 struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse2(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg);
 struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg);
 struct msgb *ctrl_cmd_make(struct ctrl_cmd *cmd);
diff --git a/src/ctrl/control_cmd.c b/src/ctrl/control_cmd.c
index 14ff90657..33496bd82 100644
--- a/src/ctrl/control_cmd.c
+++ b/src/ctrl/control_cmd.c
@@ -316,8 +316,24 @@ static bool id_str_valid(const char *str)
  *  \param[in] msg message buffer containing command to be decoded
  *  \returns callee-allocated decoded CTRL command; NULL on allocation failure,
  *  ctrl->type == CTRL_TYPE_ERROR and an error message in ctrl->reply on any error.
- * The caller is responsible to talloc_free() the returned struct pointer. */
+ * The caller is responsible to talloc_free() the returned struct pointer.
+ * If information of the origin of the ERROR cmd returned is required (received
+ * or local parsing failure), use \ref ctrl_cmd_parse3 instead. */
 struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse2(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg)
+{
+	bool unused;
+	return ctrl_cmd_parse3(ctx, msg, &unused);
+}
+
+/*! Parse/Decode CTRL from \ref msgb into command struct.
+ *  \param[in] ctx talloc context from which to allocate
+ *  \param[in] msg message buffer containing command to be decoded
+ *  \param[out] parse_failed Whether returned ERROR cmd was generatd locally
+ *  		(due to parse failure) or was received.
+ *  \returns callee-allocated decoded CTRL command; NULL on allocation failure,
+ *  ctrl->type == CTRL_TYPE_ERROR and an error message in ctrl->reply on any error.
+ * The caller is responsible to talloc_free() the returned struct pointer. */
+struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse3(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg, bool *parse_failed)
 {
 	char *str, *tmp, *saveptr = NULL;
 	char *var, *val;
@@ -326,6 +342,7 @@ struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse2(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg)
 	cmd = talloc_zero(ctx, struct ctrl_cmd);
 	if (!cmd) {
 		LOGP(DLCTRL, LOGL_ERROR, "Failed to allocate.\n");
+		*parse_failed = true;
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -483,12 +500,14 @@ struct ctrl_cmd *ctrl_cmd_parse2(void *ctx, struct msgb *msg)
 			goto err;
 	}
 
+	*parse_failed = false;
 	return cmd;
 oom:
 	cmd->type = CTRL_TYPE_ERROR;
 	cmd->id = "err";
 	cmd->reply = "OOM";
 err:
+	*parse_failed = true;
 	return cmd;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ctrl/libosmoctrl.map b/src/ctrl/libosmoctrl.map
index 5b888a2dd..f995467b4 100644
--- a/src/ctrl/libosmoctrl.map
+++ b/src/ctrl/libosmoctrl.map
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ ctrl_cmd_install;
 ctrl_cmd_make;
 ctrl_cmd_parse;
 ctrl_cmd_parse2;
+ctrl_cmd_parse3;
 ctrl_cmd_send;
 ctrl_cmd_send_to_all;
 ctrl_cmd_send_trap;