diff --git a/block/qcow2-cache.c b/block/qcow2-cache.c
index 53b8afc3d3..f63e7d8e70 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-cache.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-cache.c
@@ -22,8 +22,16 @@
  * THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
+/* Needed for CONFIG_MADVISE */
+#include "config-host.h"
+
+#if defined(CONFIG_MADVISE) || defined(CONFIG_POSIX_MADVISE)
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#endif
+
 #include "block/block_int.h"
 #include "qemu-common.h"
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "qcow2.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 
@@ -60,6 +68,22 @@ static inline int qcow2_cache_get_table_idx(BlockDriverState *bs,
     return idx;
 }
 
+static void qcow2_cache_table_release(BlockDriverState *bs, Qcow2Cache *c,
+                                      int i, int num_tables)
+{
+#if QEMU_MADV_DONTNEED != QEMU_MADV_INVALID
+    BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
+    void *t = qcow2_cache_get_table_addr(bs, c, i);
+    int align = getpagesize();
+    size_t mem_size = (size_t) s->cluster_size * num_tables;
+    size_t offset = QEMU_ALIGN_UP((uintptr_t) t, align) - (uintptr_t) t;
+    size_t length = QEMU_ALIGN_DOWN(mem_size - offset, align);
+    if (length > 0) {
+        qemu_madvise((uint8_t *) t + offset, length, QEMU_MADV_DONTNEED);
+    }
+#endif
+}
+
 Qcow2Cache *qcow2_cache_create(BlockDriverState *bs, int num_tables)
 {
     BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
@@ -237,6 +261,8 @@ int qcow2_cache_empty(BlockDriverState *bs, Qcow2Cache *c)
         c->entries[i].lru_counter = 0;
     }
 
+    qcow2_cache_table_release(bs, c, 0, c->size);
+
     c->lru_counter = 0;
 
     return 0;