diff --git a/src/nm-manager.c b/src/nm-manager.c
index d7cff07c72..7108447f6b 100644
--- a/src/nm-manager.c
+++ b/src/nm-manager.c
@@ -5186,6 +5186,14 @@ nm_connection_provider_get (void)
 	return p;
 }
 
+NMSettings *
+nm_settings_get (void)
+{
+	g_return_val_if_fail (singleton_instance, NULL);
+
+	return NM_MANAGER_GET_PRIVATE (singleton_instance)->settings;
+}
+
 NMManager *
 nm_manager_setup (void)
 {
diff --git a/src/settings/nm-settings.h b/src/settings/nm-settings.h
index d1711a4455..417cfeb9f5 100644
--- a/src/settings/nm-settings.h
+++ b/src/settings/nm-settings.h
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ typedef void (*NMSettingsSetHostnameCb) (const char *name, gboolean result, gpoi
 
 GType nm_settings_get_type (void);
 
+NMSettings *nm_settings_get (void);
+#define NM_SETTINGS_GET (nm_settings_get ())
+
 NMSettings *nm_settings_new (void);
 gboolean nm_settings_start (NMSettings *self, GError **error);