diff --git a/qemu-io.c b/qemu-io.c
index 91e3276592..3adc5a7d0d 100644
--- a/qemu-io.c
+++ b/qemu-io.c
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ static void open_help(void)
 " -C, -- use copy-on-read\n"
 " -n, -- disable host cache, short for -t none\n"
 " -U, -- force shared permissions\n"
-" -k, -- use kernel AIO implementation (on Linux only)\n"
+" -k, -- use kernel AIO implementation (Linux only, prefer use of -i)\n"
+" -i, -- use AIO mode (threads, native or io_uring)\n"
 " -t, -- use the given cache mode for the image\n"
 " -d, -- use the given discard mode for the image\n"
 " -o, -- options to be given to the block driver"
@@ -172,7 +173,7 @@ static int open_f(BlockBackend *blk, int argc, char **argv)
     QDict *opts;
     bool force_share = false;
 
-    while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "snCro:kt:d:U")) != -1) {
+    while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "snCro:ki:t:d:U")) != -1) {
         switch (c) {
         case 's':
             flags |= BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT;
@@ -204,6 +205,13 @@ static int open_f(BlockBackend *blk, int argc, char **argv)
                 return -EINVAL;
             }
             break;
+        case 'i':
+            if (bdrv_parse_aio(optarg, &flags) < 0) {
+                error_report("Invalid aio option: %s", optarg);
+                qemu_opts_reset(&empty_opts);
+                return -EINVAL;
+            }
+            break;
         case 'o':
             if (imageOpts) {
                 printf("--image-opts and 'open -o' are mutually exclusive\n");
@@ -291,7 +299,9 @@ static void usage(const char *name)
 "  -n, --nocache        disable host cache, short for -t none\n"
 "  -C, --copy-on-read   enable copy-on-read\n"
 "  -m, --misalign       misalign allocations for O_DIRECT\n"
-"  -k, --native-aio     use kernel AIO implementation (on Linux only)\n"
+"  -k, --native-aio     use kernel AIO implementation\n"
+"                       (Linux only, prefer use of -i)\n"
+"  -i, --aio=MODE       use AIO mode (threads, native or io_uring)\n"
 "  -t, --cache=MODE     use the given cache mode for the image\n"
 "  -d, --discard=MODE   use the given discard mode for the image\n"
 "  -T, --trace [[enable=]<pattern>][,events=<file>][,file=<file>]\n"
@@ -496,7 +506,7 @@ static QemuOptsList file_opts = {
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int readonly = 0;
-    const char *sopt = "hVc:d:f:rsnCmkt:T:U";
+    const char *sopt = "hVc:d:f:rsnCmki:t:T:U";
     const struct option lopt[] = {
         { "help", no_argument, NULL, 'h' },
         { "version", no_argument, NULL, 'V' },
@@ -508,6 +518,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         { "copy-on-read", no_argument, NULL, 'C' },
         { "misalign", no_argument, NULL, 'm' },
         { "native-aio", no_argument, NULL, 'k' },
+        { "aio", required_argument, NULL, 'i' },
         { "discard", required_argument, NULL, 'd' },
         { "cache", required_argument, NULL, 't' },
         { "trace", required_argument, NULL, 'T' },
@@ -575,6 +586,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         case 'k':
             flags |= BDRV_O_NATIVE_AIO;
             break;
+        case 'i':
+            if (bdrv_parse_aio(optarg, &flags) < 0) {
+                error_report("Invalid aio option: %s", optarg);
+                exit(1);
+            }
+            break;
         case 't':
             if (bdrv_parse_cache_mode(optarg, &flags, &writethrough) < 0) {
                 error_report("Invalid cache option: %s", optarg);