diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
index 32c884694c..c6e0ac2da3 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x1
 ERROR cluster 5 refcount=0 reference=1
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x1
 ERROR cluster 5 refcount=0 reference=1
@@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x0
 No errors were found on the image.
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x1
 ERROR cluster 5 refcount=0 reference=1
@@ -106,9 +106,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x0
 No errors were found on the image.
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/061.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/061.out
index a03732e19c..a431b7f305 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/061.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/061.out
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864
 wrote 131072/131072 bytes at offset 0
 128 KiB, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 magic                     0x514649fb
 version                   3
@@ -220,9 +220,9 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864
 wrote 131072/131072 bytes at offset 0
 128 KiB, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 magic                     0x514649fb
 version                   3
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
index 88c702cf77..c0e753483b 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ Unsupported value 'blubb' for qcow2 option 'overlap-check'. Allowed are any of t
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
 ./common.config: Killed                  ( if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 else
-    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@";
+    exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@";
 fi )
 incompatible_features     0x0
 Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common b/tests/qemu-iotests/common
index 49e1931129..fe3b1a0af8 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export QEMU_IO_OPTIONS=""
 export CACHEMODE_IS_DEFAULT=true
 export QEMU_OPTIONS="-nodefaults"
 export VALGRIND_QEMU=
+export IMGOPTSSYNTAX=false
 
 for r
 do
@@ -399,7 +400,11 @@ BEGIN        { for (t='$start'; t<='$end'; t++) printf "%03d\n",t }' \
 done
 
 # Set qemu-io cache mode with $CACHEMODE we have
-QEMU_IO_OPTIONS="$QEMU_IO_OPTIONS -f $IMGFMT --cache $CACHEMODE"
+if [ "$IMGOPTSSYNTAX" = "true" ]; then
+    QEMU_IO_OPTIONS="$QEMU_IO_OPTIONS --cache $CACHEMODE"
+else
+    QEMU_IO_OPTIONS="$QEMU_IO_OPTIONS -f $IMGFMT --cache $CACHEMODE"
+fi
 
 # Set default options for qemu-img create -o if they were not specified
 _set_default_imgopts
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
index f824651bac..ea698da92e 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
@@ -123,12 +123,16 @@ _qemu_img_wrapper()
 _qemu_io_wrapper()
 {
     local VALGRIND_LOGFILE="${TEST_DIR}"/$$.valgrind
+    local QEMU_IO_ARGS="$QEMU_IO_OPTIONS"
+    if [ "$IMGOPTSSYNTAX" = "true" ]; then
+        QEMU_IO_ARGS="--image-opts $QEMU_IO_ARGS"
+    fi
     local RETVAL
     (
         if [ "${VALGRIND_QEMU}" == "y" ]; then
-            exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@"
+            exec valgrind --log-file="${VALGRIND_LOGFILE}" --error-exitcode=99 "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@"
         else
-            exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS "$@"
+            exec "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_ARGS "$@"
         fi
     )
     RETVAL=$?
@@ -154,6 +158,13 @@ export QEMU_IMG=_qemu_img_wrapper
 export QEMU_IO=_qemu_io_wrapper
 export QEMU_NBD=_qemu_nbd_wrapper
 
+QEMU_IMG_EXTRA_ARGS=
+if [ "$IMGOPTSSYNTAX" = "true" ]; then
+    QEMU_IMG_EXTRA_ARGS="--image-opts $QEMU_IMG_EXTRA_ARGS"
+fi
+export QEMU_IMG_EXTRA_ARGS
+
+
 default_machine=$($QEMU -machine help | sed -n '/(default)/ s/ .*//p')
 default_alias_machine=$($QEMU -machine help | \
    sed -n "/(alias of $default_machine)/ { s/ .*//p; q; }")
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
index 5249ec5922..080f1bc9b2 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
@@ -53,21 +53,42 @@ fi
 # make sure we have a standard umask
 umask 022
 
-if [ "$IMGPROTO" = "file" ]; then
-    TEST_IMG=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
-elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nbd" ]; then
-    TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
-    TEST_IMG="nbd:127.0.0.1:10810"
-elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "ssh" ]; then
-    TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
-    TEST_IMG="ssh://127.0.0.1$TEST_IMG_FILE"
-elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nfs" ]; then
-    TEST_DIR="nfs://127.0.0.1/$TEST_DIR"
-    TEST_IMG=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
-elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "archipelago" ]; then
-    TEST_IMG="archipelago:at.$IMGFMT"
+if [ "$IMGOPTSSYNTAX" = "true" ]; then
+    DRIVER="driver=$IMGFMT"
+    if [ "$IMGPROTO" = "file" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        TEST_IMG="$DRIVER,file.filename=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT"
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nbd" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        TEST_IMG="$DRIVER,file.driver=nbd,file.host=127.0.0.1,file.port=10810"
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "ssh" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        TEST_IMG="$DRIVER,file.driver=ssh,file.host=127.0.0.1,file.path=$TEST_IMG_FILE"
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nfs" ]; then
+        TEST_DIR="$DRIVER,file.driver=nfs,file.filename=nfs://127.0.0.1/$TEST_DIR"
+        TEST_IMG=$TEST_DIR_OPTS/t.$IMGFMT
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "archipelago" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG="$DRIVER,file.driver=archipelago,file.volume=:at.$IMGFMT"
+    else
+        TEST_IMG="$DRIVER,file.driver=$IMGPROTO,file.filename=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT"
+    fi
 else
-    TEST_IMG=$IMGPROTO:$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+    if [ "$IMGPROTO" = "file" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nbd" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        TEST_IMG="nbd:127.0.0.1:10810"
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "ssh" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        TEST_IMG="ssh://127.0.0.1$TEST_IMG_FILE"
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nfs" ]; then
+        TEST_DIR="nfs://127.0.0.1/$TEST_DIR"
+        TEST_IMG=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+    elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "archipelago" ]; then
+        TEST_IMG="archipelago:at.$IMGFMT"
+    else
+        TEST_IMG=$IMGPROTO:$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+    fi
 fi
 
 _optstr_add()
@@ -199,7 +220,13 @@ _cleanup_test_img()
 
 _check_test_img()
 {
-    $QEMU_IMG check "$@" -f $IMGFMT "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_testdir | \
+    (
+        if [ "$IMGOPTSSYNTAX" = "true" ]; then
+            $QEMU_IMG check $QEMU_IMG_EXTRA_ARGS "$@" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1
+        else
+            $QEMU_IMG check "$@" -f $IMGFMT "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1
+        fi
+    ) | _filter_testdir | \
         sed -e '/allocated.*fragmented.*compressed clusters/d' \
             -e 's/qemu-img: This image format does not support checks/No errors were found on the image./' \
             -e '/Image end offset: [0-9]\+/d'