diff --git a/include/workspace.h b/include/workspace.h
index d903ea82..ae43e2f1 100644
--- a/include/workspace.h
+++ b/include/workspace.h
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@
  * creating the workspace if necessary (by allocating the necessary amount of
  * memory and initializing the data structures correctly).
  *
+ * If created is not NULL, *created will be set to whether or not the
+ * workspace has just been created.
+ *
  */
-Con *workspace_get(const char *num);
+Con *workspace_get(const char *num, bool *created);
 
 #if 0
 /**
diff --git a/src/cmdparse.y b/src/cmdparse.y
index 0abcab08..f86d51ec 100644
--- a/src/cmdparse.y
+++ b/src/cmdparse.y
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ move:
 
         printf("should move window to workspace %s\n", $<string>5);
         /* get the workspace */
-        Con *ws = workspace_get($<string>5);
+        Con *ws = workspace_get($<string>5, NULL);
         free($<string>5);
 
         /* check if the match is empty, not if the result is empty */
diff --git a/src/manage.c b/src/manage.c
index 1465457e..c4d6172b 100644
--- a/src/manage.c
+++ b/src/manage.c
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ void reparent_window(xcb_connection_t *conn, xcb_window_t child,
                         }
 
                         DLOG("Changing container/workspace and unmapping the client\n");
-                        Workspace *t_ws = workspace_get(assign->workspace-1);
+                        Workspace *t_ws = workspace_get(assign->workspace-1, NULL);
                         workspace_initialize(t_ws, c_ws->output, false);
 
                         new->container = t_ws->table[t_ws->current_col][t_ws->current_row];
diff --git a/src/workspace.c b/src/workspace.c
index fa84e204..4d3c5218 100644
--- a/src/workspace.c
+++ b/src/workspace.c
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
  * memory and initializing the data structures correctly).
  *
  */
-Con *workspace_get(const char *num) {
+Con *workspace_get(const char *num, bool *created) {
     Con *output, *workspace = NULL, *child;
 
     /* TODO: could that look like this in the future?
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ Con *workspace_get(const char *num) {
         con_attach(workspace, content, false);
 
         ipc_send_event("workspace", I3_IPC_EVENT_WORKSPACE, "{\"change\":\"init\"}");
+        if (created != NULL)
+            *created = true;
+    }
+    else if (created != NULL) {
+        *created = false;
     }
 
     //ewmh_update_workarea();
@@ -201,7 +206,7 @@ static void workspace_reassign_sticky(Con *con) {
 void workspace_show(const char *num) {
     Con *workspace, *current, *old = NULL;
 
-    workspace = workspace_get(num);
+    workspace = workspace_get(num, NULL);
 
     /* disable fullscreen for the other workspaces and get the workspace we are
      * currently on. */
@@ -454,7 +459,7 @@ Workspace *get_first_workspace_for_output(Output *output) {
                 int last_ws = 0;
                 TAILQ_FOREACH(ws, workspaces, workspaces)
                         last_ws = ws->num;
-                result = workspace_get(last_ws + 1);
+                result = workspace_get(last_ws + 1, NULL);
         }
 
         workspace_initialize(result, output, false);