diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/071 b/tests/qemu-iotests/071
index 1cca9233d0..fab526666b 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/071
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/071
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
+_require_drivers blkdebug blkverify
 
 do_run_qemu()
 {
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/081 b/tests/qemu-iotests/081
index c418bab093..85acdf76d4 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/081
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/081
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt raw
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+_require_drivers quorum
 
 do_run_qemu()
 {
@@ -55,9 +56,6 @@ run_qemu()
                           | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_generated_node_ids
 }
 
-test_quorum=$($QEMU_IMG --help|grep quorum)
-[ "$test_quorum" = "" ] && _supported_fmt quorum
-
 quorum="driver=raw,file.driver=quorum,file.vote-threshold=2"
 quorum="$quorum,file.children.0.file.filename=$TEST_DIR/1.raw"
 quorum="$quorum,file.children.1.file.filename=$TEST_DIR/2.raw"
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/099 b/tests/qemu-iotests/099
index ae02f27afe..c3cf66798a 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/099
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/099
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt qcow qcow2 qed vdi vhdx vmdk vpc
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+_require_drivers blkdebug blkverify
 _unsupported_imgopts "subformat=monolithicFlat" "subformat=twoGbMaxExtentFlat" \
     "subformat=twoGbMaxExtentSparse"
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/120 b/tests/qemu-iotests/120
index e9b4fbb009..2931a7550f 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/120
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/120
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt generic
 _supported_proto file
 _unsupported_fmt luks
+_require_drivers raw
 
 _make_test_img 64M
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/162 b/tests/qemu-iotests/162
index 4e5ed74fd5..2d719afbed 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/162
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/162
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 . ./common.filter
 
 _supported_fmt generic
-
-test_ssh=$($QEMU_IMG --help | grep '^Supported formats:.* ssh\( \|$\)')
-[ "$test_ssh" = "" ] && _notrun "ssh support required"
+_require_drivers ssh
 
 echo
 echo '=== NBD ==='
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/184 b/tests/qemu-iotests/184
index cb0c181228..33dd8d2a4f 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/184
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/184
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ trap "exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 . ./common.filter
 
 _supported_os Linux
+_require_drivers throttle
 
 do_run_qemu()
 {
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/186 b/tests/qemu-iotests/186
index 5f6b18c150..3ea0442d44 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/186
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/186
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
+_require_drivers null-co
 
 if [ "$QEMU_DEFAULT_MACHINE" != "pc" ]; then
     _notrun "Requires a PC machine"
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
index 5502c3da2f..ee20be8920 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
@@ -520,5 +520,19 @@ _require_command()
     [ -x "$c" ] || _notrun "$1 utility required, skipped this test"
 }
 
+# Check that a set of drivers has been whitelisted in the QEMU binary
+#
+_require_drivers()
+{
+    available=$($QEMU -drive format=help | \
+                sed -e '/Supported formats:/!d' -e 's/Supported formats://')
+    for driver
+    do
+        if ! echo "$available" | grep -q " $driver\( \|$\)"; then
+            _notrun "$driver not available"
+        fi
+    done
+}
+
 # make sure this script returns success
 true