diff --git a/qapi/qapi-types-core.h b/qapi/qapi-types-core.h
index a79bc2b3c..27e6be0a8 100644
--- a/qapi/qapi-types-core.h
+++ b/qapi/qapi-types-core.h
@@ -17,4 +17,7 @@
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "error.h"
 
+/* FIXME this is temporary until we remove middle mode */
+#include "monitor.h"
+
 #endif
diff --git a/scripts/qapi-commands.py b/scripts/qapi-commands.py
index bf617401a..27768049a 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi-commands.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi-commands.py
@@ -167,9 +167,10 @@ qmp_input_visitor_cleanup(mi);
     pop_indent()
     return ret.rstrip()
 
-def gen_marshal_output(name, args, ret_type):
+def gen_marshal_output(name, args, ret_type, middle_mode):
     if not ret_type:
         return ""
+
     ret = mcgen('''
 static void qmp_marshal_output_%(c_name)s(%(c_ret_type)s ret_in, QObject **ret_out, Error **errp)
 {
@@ -188,16 +189,34 @@ static void qmp_marshal_output_%(c_name)s(%(c_ret_type)s ret_in, QObject **ret_o
     qapi_dealloc_visitor_cleanup(md);
 }
 ''',
-            c_ret_type=c_type(ret_type), c_name=c_var(name), ret_type=ret_type)
+                 c_ret_type=c_type(ret_type), c_name=c_var(name),
+                 ret_type=ret_type)
 
     return ret
 
-def gen_marshal_input(name, args, ret_type):
+def gen_marshal_input_decl(name, args, ret_type, middle_mode):
+    if middle_mode:
+        return 'int qmp_marshal_input_%s(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict, QObject **ret)' % c_var(name)
+    else:
+        return 'static void qmp_marshal_input_%s(QDict *args, QObject **ret, Error **errp)' % c_var(name)
+
+
+
+def gen_marshal_input(name, args, ret_type, middle_mode):
+    hdr = gen_marshal_input_decl(name, args, ret_type, middle_mode)
+
     ret = mcgen('''
-static void qmp_marshal_input_%(c_name)s(QDict *args, QObject **ret, Error **errp)
+%(header)s
 {
 ''',
-                c_name=c_var(name))
+                header=hdr)
+
+    if middle_mode:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    Error **errp = &local_err;
+    QDict *args = (QDict *)qdict;
+''')
 
     if ret_type:
         if c_type(ret_type).endswith("*"):
@@ -220,6 +239,10 @@ static void qmp_marshal_input_%(c_name)s(QDict *args, QObject **ret, Error **err
                      visitor_input_containers_decl=gen_visitor_input_containers_decl(args),
                      visitor_input_vars_decl=gen_visitor_input_vars_decl(args),
                      visitor_input_block=gen_visitor_input_block(args, "QOBJECT(args)"))
+    else:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+    (void)args;
+''')
 
     ret += mcgen('''
     if (error_is_set(errp)) {
@@ -234,10 +257,29 @@ out:
 ''')
     ret += mcgen('''
 %(visitor_input_block_cleanup)s
-    return;
-}
 ''',
-                 visitor_input_block_cleanup=gen_visitor_input_block(args, None, dealloc=True))
+                 visitor_input_block_cleanup=gen_visitor_input_block(args, None,
+                                                                     dealloc=True))
+
+    if middle_mode:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+
+    if (local_err) {
+        qerror_report_err(local_err);
+        error_free(local_err);
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+''')
+    else:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+    return;
+''')
+
+    ret += mcgen('''
+}
+''')
+
     return ret
 
 def gen_registry(commands):
@@ -284,7 +326,7 @@ def gen_command_decl_prologue(header, guard, prefix=""):
 #include "error.h"
 
 ''',
-                 header=basename(h_file), guard=guardname(h_file), prefix=prefix)
+                 header=basename(header), guard=guardname(header), prefix=prefix)
     return ret
 
 def gen_command_def_prologue(prefix="", proxy=False):
@@ -317,11 +359,11 @@ def gen_command_def_prologue(prefix="", proxy=False):
                 prefix=prefix)
     if not proxy:
         ret += '#include "%sqmp-commands.h"' % prefix
-    return ret + "\n"
+    return ret + "\n\n"
 
 
 try:
-    opts, args = getopt.gnu_getopt(sys.argv[1:], "p:o:", ["prefix=", "output-dir=", "type="])
+    opts, args = getopt.gnu_getopt(sys.argv[1:], "p:o:m", ["prefix=", "output-dir=", "type=", "middle"])
 except getopt.GetoptError, err:
     print str(err)
     sys.exit(1)
@@ -331,6 +373,7 @@ prefix = ""
 dispatch_type = "sync"
 c_file = 'qmp-marshal.c'
 h_file = 'qmp-commands.h'
+middle_mode = False
 
 for o, a in opts:
     if o in ("-p", "--prefix"):
@@ -339,6 +382,8 @@ for o, a in opts:
         output_dir = a + "/"
     elif o in ("-t", "--type"):
         dispatch_type = a
+    elif o in ("-m", "--middle"):
+        middle_mode = True
 
 c_file = output_dir + prefix + c_file
 h_file = output_dir + prefix + h_file
@@ -370,14 +415,20 @@ if dispatch_type == "sync":
         ret = generate_command_decl(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type) + "\n"
         fdecl.write(ret)
         if ret_type:
-            ret = gen_marshal_output(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type) + "\n"
+            ret = gen_marshal_output(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type, middle_mode) + "\n"
             fdef.write(ret)
-        ret = gen_marshal_input(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type) + "\n"
+
+        if middle_mode:
+            fdecl.write('%s;\n' % gen_marshal_input_decl(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type, middle_mode))
+
+        ret = gen_marshal_input(cmd['command'], arglist, ret_type, middle_mode) + "\n"
         fdef.write(ret)
 
     fdecl.write("\n#endif\n");
-    ret = gen_registry(commands)
-    fdef.write(ret)
+
+    if not middle_mode:
+        ret = gen_registry(commands)
+        fdef.write(ret)
 
     fdef.flush()
     fdef.close()
diff --git a/scripts/qapi-types.py b/scripts/qapi-types.py
index cece32546..fc0f7af8f 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi-types.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi-types.py
@@ -268,3 +268,6 @@ fdecl.write('''
 
 fdecl.flush()
 fdecl.close()
+
+fdef.flush()
+fdef.close()
diff --git a/scripts/qapi.py b/scripts/qapi.py
index 56af2329b..52999763e 100644
--- a/scripts/qapi.py
+++ b/scripts/qapi.py
@@ -200,4 +200,6 @@ def basename(filename):
     return filename.split("/")[-1]
 
 def guardname(filename):
-    return filename.replace("/", "_").replace("-", "_").split(".")[0].upper()
+    if filename.startswith('./'):
+        filename = filename[2:]
+    return filename.replace("/", "_").replace("-", "_").split(".")[0].upper() + '_H'