diff --git a/hw/mips_malta.c b/hw/mips_malta.c
index 3b37596d19..6f0edf9a3b 100644
--- a/hw/mips_malta.c
+++ b/hw/mips_malta.c
@@ -791,7 +791,9 @@ void mips_malta_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 
     /* Load a BIOS image unless a kernel image has been specified. */
     if (!kernel_filename) {
-        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+        if (bios_name == NULL)
+            bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
         ret = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
         if (ret < 0 || ret > BIOS_SIZE) {
             fprintf(stderr,
diff --git a/hw/mips_pica61.c b/hw/mips_pica61.c
index 2c44150176..9584046176 100644
--- a/hw/mips_pica61.c
+++ b/hw/mips_pica61.c
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ void mips_pica61_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 
     /* load a BIOS image */
     bios_offset = ram_size + vga_ram_size;
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
     if ((bios_size <= 0) || (bios_size > BIOS_SIZE)) {
         /* fatal */
diff --git a/hw/mips_r4k.c b/hw/mips_r4k.c
index 5769ade968..47b51c7b0d 100644
--- a/hw/mips_r4k.c
+++ b/hw/mips_r4k.c
@@ -179,7 +179,9 @@ void mips_r4k_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
        preloaded we also initialize the hardware, since the BIOS wasn't
        run. */
     bios_offset = ram_size + vga_ram_size;
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
     if ((bios_size > 0) && (bios_size <= BIOS_SIZE)) {
 	cpu_register_physical_memory(0x1fc00000,
diff --git a/hw/pc.c b/hw/pc.c
index ace0cee1ff..5bc0b63e79 100644
--- a/hw/pc.c
+++ b/hw/pc.c
@@ -706,7 +706,9 @@ static void pc_init1(int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
     vga_ram_addr = qemu_ram_alloc(vga_ram_size);
 
     /* BIOS load */
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     bios_size = get_image_size(buf);
     if (bios_size <= 0 ||
         (bios_size % 65536) != 0) {
diff --git a/hw/ppc405_boards.c b/hw/ppc405_boards.c
index ebf160cb75..8c00148d7f 100644
--- a/hw/ppc405_boards.c
+++ b/hw/ppc405_boards.c
@@ -236,7 +236,9 @@ static void ref405ep_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 #ifdef DEBUG_BOARD_INIT
         printf("Load BIOS from file\n");
 #endif
-        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+        if (bios_name == NULL)
+            bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
         bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
         if (bios_size < 0 || bios_size > BIOS_SIZE) {
             fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not load PowerPC bios '%s'\n", buf);
@@ -549,7 +551,9 @@ static void taihu_405ep_init(int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 #ifdef DEBUG_BOARD_INIT
         printf("Load BIOS from file\n");
 #endif
-        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+        if (bios_name == NULL)
+            bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
         bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
         if (bios_size < 0 || bios_size > BIOS_SIZE) {
             fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not load PowerPC bios '%s'\n", buf);
diff --git a/hw/ppc_chrp.c b/hw/ppc_chrp.c
index 653f7c3a7c..f53c85b855 100644
--- a/hw/ppc_chrp.c
+++ b/hw/ppc_chrp.c
@@ -349,7 +349,9 @@ static void ppc_chrp_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 
     /* allocate and load BIOS */
     bios_offset = ram_size + vga_ram_size;
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
     if (bios_size < 0 || bios_size > BIOS_SIZE) {
         cpu_abort(env, "qemu: could not load PowerPC bios '%s'\n", buf);
diff --git a/hw/ppc_prep.c b/hw/ppc_prep.c
index 9e2a4403a5..16d8915e5f 100644
--- a/hw/ppc_prep.c
+++ b/hw/ppc_prep.c
@@ -564,7 +564,9 @@ static void ppc_prep_init (int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
 
     /* allocate and load BIOS */
     bios_offset = ram_size + vga_ram_size;
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, BIOS_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     bios_size = load_image(buf, phys_ram_base + bios_offset);
     if (bios_size < 0 || bios_size > BIOS_SIZE) {
         cpu_abort(env, "qemu: could not load PPC PREP bios '%s'\n", buf);
diff --git a/hw/shix.c b/hw/shix.c
index e668426c89..884178e94f 100644
--- a/hw/shix.c
+++ b/hw/shix.c
@@ -83,12 +83,14 @@ void shix_init(int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
     cpu_register_physical_memory(0x0c000000, 0x01000000, 0x01004000);
 
     /* Load BIOS in 0 (and access it through P2, 0xA0000000) */
-    printf("%s: load BIOS '%s'\n", __func__, BIOS_FILENAME);
-    ret = load_image(BIOS_FILENAME, phys_ram_base);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = BIOS_FILENAME;
+    printf("%s: load BIOS '%s'\n", __func__, bios_name);
+    ret = load_image(bios_name, phys_ram_base);
     if (ret < 0) {		/* Check bios size */
 	fprintf(stderr, "ret=%d\n", ret);
 	fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not load SHIX bios '%s'\n",
-		BIOS_FILENAME);
+		bios_name);
 	exit(1);
     }
 
diff --git a/hw/sun4m.c b/hw/sun4m.c
index 76b0e7ee8f..f9961c7739 100644
--- a/hw/sun4m.c
+++ b/hw/sun4m.c
@@ -430,7 +430,9 @@ static void sun4m_load_kernel(long vram_size, int RAM_size, int boot_device,
                                  (PROM_SIZE_MAX + TARGET_PAGE_SIZE - 1) & TARGET_PAGE_MASK,
                                  prom_offset | IO_MEM_ROM);
 
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, PROM_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = PROM_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     ret = load_elf(buf, PROM_PADDR - PROM_VADDR, NULL, NULL, NULL);
     if (ret < 0) {
 	fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not load prom '%s'\n",
diff --git a/hw/sun4u.c b/hw/sun4u.c
index 0e9e72e35a..cc5e200838 100644
--- a/hw/sun4u.c
+++ b/hw/sun4u.c
@@ -382,7 +382,9 @@ static void sun4u_init(int ram_size, int vga_ram_size, int boot_device,
                                  (PROM_SIZE_MAX + TARGET_PAGE_SIZE) & TARGET_PAGE_MASK,
                                  prom_offset | IO_MEM_ROM);
 
-    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, PROM_FILENAME);
+    if (bios_name == NULL)
+        bios_name = PROM_FILENAME;
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", bios_dir, bios_name);
     ret = load_elf(buf, PROM_ADDR - PROM_VADDR, NULL, NULL, NULL);
     if (ret < 0) {
 	fprintf(stderr, "qemu: could not load prom '%s'\n",
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index ebd5dbf207..be99f959c7 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ int inet_aton(const char *cp, struct in_addr *ia);
 #define MAX_IOPORTS 65536
 
 const char *bios_dir = CONFIG_QEMU_SHAREDIR;
+const char *bios_name = NULL;
 char phys_ram_file[1024];
 void *ioport_opaque[MAX_IOPORTS];
 IOPortReadFunc *ioport_read_table[3][MAX_IOPORTS];
@@ -7149,6 +7150,7 @@ enum {
     QEMU_OPTION_d,
     QEMU_OPTION_hdachs,
     QEMU_OPTION_L,
+    QEMU_OPTION_bios,
     QEMU_OPTION_no_code_copy,
     QEMU_OPTION_k,
     QEMU_OPTION_localtime,
@@ -7241,6 +7243,7 @@ const QEMUOption qemu_options[] = {
     { "d", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_d },
     { "hdachs", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_hdachs },
     { "L", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_L },
+    { "bios", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_bios },
     { "no-code-copy", 0, QEMU_OPTION_no_code_copy },
 #ifdef USE_KQEMU
     { "no-kqemu", 0, QEMU_OPTION_no_kqemu },
@@ -7887,6 +7890,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             case QEMU_OPTION_L:
                 bios_dir = optarg;
                 break;
+            case QEMU_OPTION_bios:
+                bios_name = optarg;
+                break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_S:
                 autostart = 0;
                 break;
diff --git a/vl.h b/vl.h
index 0add259de8..7a3d22c908 100644
--- a/vl.h
+++ b/vl.h
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ uint64_t muldiv64(uint64_t a, uint32_t b, uint32_t c);
 void hw_error(const char *fmt, ...);
 
 extern const char *bios_dir;
+extern const char *bios_name;
 
 extern int vm_running;
 extern const char *qemu_name;