diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 62b29e7feb..60e45ec103 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -277,12 +277,12 @@ static BlockBackend *img_open_opts(const char *optstr,
     options = qemu_opts_to_qdict(opts, NULL);
     if (force_share) {
         if (qdict_haskey(options, BDRV_OPT_FORCE_SHARE)
-            && !qdict_get_bool(options, BDRV_OPT_FORCE_SHARE)) {
+            && strcmp(qdict_get_str(options, BDRV_OPT_FORCE_SHARE), "on")) {
             error_report("--force-share/-U conflicts with image options");
             qobject_unref(options);
             return NULL;
         }
-        qdict_put_bool(options, BDRV_OPT_FORCE_SHARE, true);
+        qdict_put_str(options, BDRV_OPT_FORCE_SHARE, "on");
     }
     blk = blk_new_open(NULL, NULL, options, flags, &local_err);
     if (!blk) {