diff --git a/block/vmdk.c b/block/vmdk.c
index 03a4619201..f8a815c749 100644
--- a/block/vmdk.c
+++ b/block/vmdk.c
@@ -103,10 +103,51 @@ static int vmdk_probe(const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size, const char *filename)
         return 0;
     magic = be32_to_cpu(*(uint32_t *)buf);
     if (magic == VMDK3_MAGIC ||
-        magic == VMDK4_MAGIC)
+        magic == VMDK4_MAGIC) {
         return 100;
-    else
+    } else {
+        const char *p = (const char *)buf;
+        const char *end = p + buf_size;
+        while (p < end) {
+            if (*p == '#') {
+                /* skip comment line */
+                while (p < end && *p != '\n') {
+                    p++;
+                }
+                p++;
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (*p == ' ') {
+                while (p < end && *p == ' ') {
+                    p++;
+                }
+                /* skip '\r' if windows line endings used. */
+                if (p < end && *p == '\r') {
+                    p++;
+                }
+                /* only accept blank lines before 'version=' line */
+                if (p == end || *p != '\n') {
+                    return 0;
+                }
+                p++;
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (end - p >= strlen("version=X\n")) {
+                if (strncmp("version=1\n", p, strlen("version=1\n")) == 0 ||
+                    strncmp("version=2\n", p, strlen("version=2\n")) == 0) {
+                    return 100;
+                }
+            }
+            if (end - p >= strlen("version=X\r\n")) {
+                if (strncmp("version=1\r\n", p, strlen("version=1\r\n")) == 0 ||
+                    strncmp("version=2\r\n", p, strlen("version=2\r\n")) == 0) {
+                    return 100;
+                }
+            }
+            return 0;
+        }
         return 0;
+    }
 }
 
 #define CHECK_CID 1