diff --git a/hmp-commands.hx b/hmp-commands.hx
index a511004434f5ce92cf45d53a85e447ea7e260b10..3a4ae3950ad500fce21a86147317fe3bf21fa3f0 100644
--- a/hmp-commands.hx
+++ b/hmp-commands.hx
@@ -676,7 +676,8 @@ ETEXI
 STEXI
 @item device_del @var{id}
 @findex device_del
-Remove device @var{id}.
+Remove device @var{id}. @var{id} may be a short ID
+or a QOM object path.
 ETEXI
 
     {
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index 821362d6373b55bbbe329282761bdc06568c4a0b..527690dfe076f640dfb701c7babd7bdf97785875 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -1951,7 +1951,7 @@
 #
 # Remove a device from a guest
 #
-# @id: the name of the device
+# @id: the name or QOM path of the device
 #
 # Returns: Nothing on success
 #          If @id is not a valid device, DeviceNotFound
diff --git a/qdev-monitor.c b/qdev-monitor.c
index 0bf7f83a1d8bde97d99ffadfd55378823488375a..eb7aef2c81390221a044bfd08f2224b6463495c9 100644
--- a/qdev-monitor.c
+++ b/qdev-monitor.c
@@ -771,12 +771,17 @@ void qmp_device_add(QDict *qdict, QObject **ret_data, Error **errp)
 void qmp_device_del(const char *id, Error **errp)
 {
     Object *obj;
-    char *root_path = object_get_canonical_path(qdev_get_peripheral());
-    char *path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", root_path, id);
 
-    g_free(root_path);
-    obj = object_resolve_path_type(path, TYPE_DEVICE, NULL);
-    g_free(path);
+    if (id[0] == '/') {
+        obj = object_resolve_path(id, NULL);
+    } else {
+        char *root_path = object_get_canonical_path(qdev_get_peripheral());
+        char *path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", root_path, id);
+
+        g_free(root_path);
+        obj = object_resolve_path_type(path, TYPE_DEVICE, NULL);
+        g_free(path);
+    }
 
     if (!obj) {
         error_set(errp, ERROR_CLASS_DEVICE_NOT_FOUND,
@@ -784,6 +789,11 @@ void qmp_device_del(const char *id, Error **errp)
         return;
     }
 
+    if (!object_dynamic_cast(obj, TYPE_DEVICE)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "%s is not a hotpluggable device", id);
+        return;
+    }
+
     qdev_unplug(DEVICE(obj), errp);
 }
 
diff --git a/qmp-commands.hx b/qmp-commands.hx
index 66f03007ecd73fc1ad925755ca9891b1e7dd07ec..d2ba800d5effaddcae4c437452ef1f67c0aaaaa9 100644
--- a/qmp-commands.hx
+++ b/qmp-commands.hx
@@ -321,13 +321,18 @@ Remove a device.
 
 Arguments:
 
-- "id": the device's ID (json-string)
+- "id": the device's ID or QOM path (json-string)
 
 Example:
 
 -> { "execute": "device_del", "arguments": { "id": "net1" } }
 <- { "return": {} }
 
+Example:
+
+-> { "execute": "device_del", "arguments": { "id": "/machine/peripheral-anon/device[0]" } }
+<- { "return": {} }
+
 EQMP
 
     {