diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 9283c8d97b..5bb6a2bef9 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -5088,25 +5088,38 @@ int bdrv_replace_node(BlockDriverState *from, BlockDriverState *to,
  * This will modify the BlockDriverState fields, and swap contents
  * between bs_new and bs_top. Both bs_new and bs_top are modified.
  *
- * bs_new must not be attached to a BlockBackend.
+ * bs_new must not be attached to a BlockBackend and must not have backing
+ * child.
  *
  * This function does not create any image files.
  */
 int bdrv_append(BlockDriverState *bs_new, BlockDriverState *bs_top,
                 Error **errp)
 {
-    int ret = bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, bs_top, errp);
+    int ret;
+    Transaction *tran = tran_new();
+
+    assert(!bs_new->backing);
+
+    ret = bdrv_attach_child_noperm(bs_new, bs_top, "backing",
+                                   &child_of_bds, bdrv_backing_role(bs_new),
+                                   &bs_new->backing, tran, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        return ret;
+        goto out;
     }
 
-    ret = bdrv_replace_node(bs_top, bs_new, errp);
+    ret = bdrv_replace_node_noperm(bs_top, bs_new, true, tran, errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, NULL, &error_abort);
-        return ret;
+        goto out;
     }
 
-    return 0;
+    ret = bdrv_refresh_perms(bs_new, errp);
+out:
+    tran_finalize(tran, ret);
+
+    bdrv_refresh_limits(bs_top, NULL);
+
+    return ret;
 }
 
 static void bdrv_delete(BlockDriverState *bs)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
index 7b3c8b437a..88f25c0cdb 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test-bdrv-graph-mod.c
@@ -388,16 +388,6 @@ static void test_append_greedy_filter(void)
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    int i;
-    bool debug = false;
-
-    for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
-        if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-d")) {
-            debug = true;
-            break;
-        }
-    }
-
     bdrv_init();
     qemu_init_main_loop(&error_abort);
 
@@ -410,11 +400,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                     test_parallel_perm_update);
     g_test_add_func("/bdrv-graph-mod/parallel-exclusive-write",
                     test_parallel_exclusive_write);
-
-    if (debug) {
-        g_test_add_func("/bdrv-graph-mod/append-greedy-filter",
-                        test_append_greedy_filter);
-    }
+    g_test_add_func("/bdrv-graph-mod/append-greedy-filter",
+                    test_append_greedy_filter);
 
     return g_test_run();
 }