diff --git a/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.c b/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.c
index b234504a07..2e95b0186f 100644
--- a/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.c
+++ b/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.c
@@ -1005,8 +1005,16 @@ _get_fcn_gobject_int(ARGS_GET_FCN)
     case 16:
         if (is_uint64)
             return_str = g_strdup_printf("0x%" G_GINT64_MODIFIER "x", v.u64);
-        else
-            return_str = g_strdup_printf("0x%" G_GINT64_MODIFIER "x", (guint64) v.i64);
+        else {
+            if (property_info->property_typ_data
+                && property_info->property_typ_data->subtype.gobject_int
+                       .print_hex_negative_as_base10
+                && v.i64 < 0) {
+                return_str = g_strdup_printf("%" G_GINT64_FORMAT, v.i64);
+            } else {
+                return_str = g_strdup_printf("0x%" G_GINT64_MODIFIER "x", (guint64) v.i64);
+            }
+        }
         break;
     default:
         return_str = NULL;
@@ -1422,6 +1430,11 @@ _set_fcn_gobject_int(ARGS_SET_FCN)
 
     nm_meta_property_int_get_range(property_info, &min, &max);
 
+    /* See the comment on "print_hex_negative_as_base10" */
+    nm_assert(!property_info->property_typ_data
+              || !property_info->property_typ_data->subtype.gobject_int.print_hex_negative_as_base10
+              || (!is_uint64 && min.i64 > -10));
+
     if (is_uint64)
         v.u64 = _nm_utils_ascii_str_to_uint64(value, base, min.u64, max.u64, 0);
     else
diff --git a/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.h b/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.h
index 46b7f65002..0294b1f706 100644
--- a/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.h
+++ b/src/libnmc-setting/nm-meta-setting-desc.h
@@ -293,9 +293,21 @@ struct _NMMetaPropertyTypData {
                                    int                       value);
         } gobject_enum;
         struct {
-            NMMetaSignUnsignInt64          min;
-            NMMetaSignUnsignInt64          max;
-            guint                          base;
+            NMMetaSignUnsignInt64 min;
+            NMMetaSignUnsignInt64 max;
+            guint                 base;
+
+            /* Normally, when a property has "base = 16", it is printed
+             * as unsigned even if the gtype is signed. For some properties,
+             * we want to print the hexadecimal representation for positive
+             * values, and the base10 representation with minus sign for negative
+             * values. A typical use case is to encode the default value as
+             * "-1" and use positive values as a hexadecimal number. To avoid
+             * ambiguity when setting the value via nmcli, the property minimum
+             * allowed value should not be <= -10.
+             */
+            bool print_hex_negative_as_base10;
+
             const NMMetaUtilsIntValueInfo *value_infos;
         } gobject_int;
         struct {