diff --git a/hw/watchdog/watchdog.c b/hw/watchdog/watchdog.c
index 0e98ffb73f..1437e6c5b6 100644
--- a/hw/watchdog/watchdog.c
+++ b/hw/watchdog/watchdog.c
@@ -76,20 +76,6 @@ int select_watchdog(const char *p)
     return 1;
 }
 
-int select_watchdog_action(const char *p)
-{
-    int action;
-    char *qapi_value;
-
-    qapi_value = g_ascii_strdown(p, -1);
-    action = qapi_enum_parse(&WatchdogAction_lookup, qapi_value, -1, NULL);
-    g_free(qapi_value);
-    if (action < 0)
-        return -1;
-    qmp_watchdog_set_action(action, &error_abort);
-    return 0;
-}
-
 WatchdogAction get_watchdog_action(void)
 {
     return watchdog_action;
diff --git a/include/sysemu/watchdog.h b/include/sysemu/watchdog.h
index a08d16380d..d2d4901dbb 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/watchdog.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/watchdog.h
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ typedef struct WatchdogTimerModel WatchdogTimerModel;
 
 /* in hw/watchdog.c */
 int select_watchdog(const char *p);
-int select_watchdog_action(const char *action);
 WatchdogAction get_watchdog_action(void);
 void watchdog_add_model(WatchdogTimerModel *model);
 void watchdog_perform_action(void);
diff --git a/monitor/misc.c b/monitor/misc.c
index c2d227a07c..1759d1e7f1 100644
--- a/monitor/misc.c
+++ b/monitor/misc.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 #include "qapi/qapi-commands-migration.h"
 #include "qapi/qapi-commands-misc.h"
 #include "qapi/qapi-commands-qom.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-commands-run-state.h"
 #include "qapi/qapi-commands-trace.h"
 #include "qapi/qapi-init-commands.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
@@ -471,10 +472,18 @@ static void hmp_gdbserver(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 
 static void hmp_watchdog_action(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 {
-    const char *action = qdict_get_str(qdict, "action");
-    if (select_watchdog_action(action) == -1) {
-        monitor_printf(mon, "Unknown watchdog action '%s'\n", action);
+    Error *err = NULL;
+    WatchdogAction action;
+    char *qapi_value;
+
+    qapi_value = g_ascii_strdown(qdict_get_str(qdict, "action"), -1);
+    action = qapi_enum_parse(&WatchdogAction_lookup, qapi_value, -1, &err);
+    g_free(qapi_value);
+    if (err) {
+        hmp_handle_error(mon, err);
+        return;
     }
+    qmp_watchdog_set_action(action, &error_abort);
 }
 
 static void monitor_printc(Monitor *mon, int c)
diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index 570120f5c4..1159a64bce 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -3265,12 +3265,12 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                      exit(1);
                 }
                 break;
-            case QEMU_OPTION_watchdog_action:
-                if (select_watchdog_action(optarg) == -1) {
-                    error_report("unknown -watchdog-action parameter");
-                    exit(1);
-                }
+            case QEMU_OPTION_watchdog_action: {
+                QemuOpts *opts;
+                opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("action"), NULL, 0, &error_abort);
+                qemu_opt_set(opts, "watchdog", optarg, &error_abort);
                 break;
+            }
             case QEMU_OPTION_parallel:
                 add_device_config(DEV_PARALLEL, optarg);
                 default_parallel = 0;