diff --git a/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.cpp b/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.cpp
index 90857d9ec8f..1c4d09d596e 100644
--- a/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.cpp
@@ -563,6 +563,26 @@ kdb::Key Cmdline::createKey (int pos, bool allowCascading) const
 	return root;
 }
 
+
+/**
+ * @brief return a parent key to use with kdbGet/kdbSet
+ *
+ * @param key the key of interest
+ *
+ * @return a newly created key to use with kdbGet/kdbSet. If -f was specified, a simple copy will be returned, otherwise a copy without a namespace will be returned.
+ */
+kdb::Key Cmdline::getParentKey (kdb::Key const & key) const
+{
+	if (force)
+	{
+		return key.dup ();
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		return removeNamespace (key);
+	}
+}
+
 /**
  * @brief resolve the bookmark with the given name
  *
diff --git a/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.hpp b/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.hpp
index 19ecccaf87a..6e0c23b6b6f 100644
--- a/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.hpp
+++ b/src/tools/kdb/cmdline.hpp
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ class Cmdline
 	std::string profile;
 
 	kdb::Key createKey (int pos, bool allowCascading = true) const;
+	kdb::Key getParentKey (kdb::Key const & key) const;
 	kdb::Key resolveBookmark (std::string name) const;
 
 	kdb::KeySet getPluginsConfig (std::string basepath = "user:/") const;
diff --git a/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.cpp b/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.cpp
index 19494020926..30610836c0e 100644
--- a/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,18 @@ Key prependNamespace (Key const & root, std::string const & ns)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+Key removeNamespace (Key const & root)
+{
+	Key ret = root.dup ();
+	if (!ret.isCascading ())
+	{
+		string keyName = ret.getName ();
+		string cascadingName = keyName.substr (keyName.find(":") + 1);
+		ret.setName (cascadingName);
+	}
+	return ret;
+}
+
 void applyMeta (KeySet & imported, KeySet const & base)
 {
 	for (auto k : imported)
diff --git a/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.hpp b/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.hpp
index 1b19f5fb3b6..477a61f8648 100644
--- a/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.hpp
+++ b/src/tools/kdb/mergehelper.hpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ using namespace kdb::tools::merging;
 
 kdb::KeySet prependNamespace (kdb::KeySet const & resultKeys, std::string const & ns);
 kdb::Key prependNamespace (kdb::Key const & root, std::string const & ns);
+kdb::Key removeNamespace (kdb::Key const & root);
 void applyMeta (kdb::KeySet & imported, kdb::KeySet const & base);
 
 class MergeHelper