diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 145d0baf5e..e2fefe5883 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -6234,6 +6234,44 @@ bool bdrv_recurse_is_first_non_filter(BlockDriverState *bs,
     return false;
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function checks whether the given @to_replace is allowed to be
+ * replaced by a node that always shows the same data as @bs.  This is
+ * used for example to verify whether the mirror job can replace
+ * @to_replace by the target mirrored from @bs.
+ * To be replaceable, @bs and @to_replace may either be guaranteed to
+ * always show the same data (because they are only connected through
+ * filters), or some driver may allow replacing one of its children
+ * because it can guarantee that this child's data is not visible at
+ * all (for example, for dissenting quorum children that have no other
+ * parents).
+ */
+bool bdrv_recurse_can_replace(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                              BlockDriverState *to_replace)
+{
+    if (!bs || !bs->drv) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (bs == to_replace) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    /* See what the driver can do */
+    if (bs->drv->bdrv_recurse_can_replace) {
+        return bs->drv->bdrv_recurse_can_replace(bs, to_replace);
+    }
+
+    /* For filters without an own implementation, we can recurse on our own */
+    if (bs->drv->is_filter) {
+        BdrvChild *child = bs->file ?: bs->backing;
+        return bdrv_recurse_can_replace(child->bs, to_replace);
+    }
+
+    /* Safe default */
+    return false;
+}
+
 BlockDriverState *check_to_replace_node(BlockDriverState *parent_bs,
                                         const char *node_name, Error **errp)
 {
diff --git a/include/block/block_int.h b/include/block/block_int.h
index 640fb82c78..eaefac210e 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int.h
@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ struct BlockDriver {
      */
     bool (*bdrv_recurse_is_first_non_filter)(BlockDriverState *bs,
                                              BlockDriverState *candidate);
+    /*
+     * Return true if @to_replace can be replaced by a BDS with the
+     * same data as @bs without it affecting @bs's behavior (that is,
+     * without it being visible to @bs's parents).
+     */
+    bool (*bdrv_recurse_can_replace)(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                     BlockDriverState *to_replace);
 
     int (*bdrv_probe)(const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size, const char *filename);
     int (*bdrv_probe_device)(const char *filename);
@@ -1263,6 +1270,9 @@ void bdrv_format_default_perms(BlockDriverState *bs, BdrvChild *c,
                                uint64_t perm, uint64_t shared,
                                uint64_t *nperm, uint64_t *nshared);
 
+bool bdrv_recurse_can_replace(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                              BlockDriverState *to_replace);
+
 /*
  * Default implementation for drivers to pass bdrv_co_block_status() to
  * their file.