diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 68ee271792..1d711e0cb8 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2903,6 +2903,7 @@ S: Maintained
 F: docs/devel/tcg-plugins.rst
 F: plugins/
 F: tests/plugin/
+F: tests/acceptance/tcg_plugins.py
 F: contrib/plugins/
 
 AArch64 TCG target
diff --git a/tests/acceptance/tcg_plugins.py b/tests/acceptance/tcg_plugins.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adec40d3a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/acceptance/tcg_plugins.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# TCG Plugins tests
+#
+# These are a little more involved than the basic tests run by check-tcg.
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2021 Linaro
+#
+# Author:
+#  Alex Bennée <alex.bennee@linaro.org>
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+import tempfile
+import mmap
+import re
+
+from boot_linux_console import LinuxKernelTest
+
+
+class PluginKernelBase(LinuxKernelTest):
+    """
+    Boots a Linux kernel with a TCG plugin enabled.
+    """
+
+    timeout = 120
+    KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE = 'printk.time=1 panic=-1 '
+
+    def run_vm(self, kernel_path, kernel_command_line,
+               plugin, plugin_log, console_pattern, args):
+
+        vm = self.get_vm()
+        vm.set_console()
+        vm.add_args('-kernel', kernel_path,
+                    '-append', kernel_command_line,
+                    '-plugin', plugin,
+                    '-d', 'plugin',
+                    '-D', plugin_log,
+                    '-net', 'none',
+                    '-no-reboot')
+        if args:
+            vm.add_args(*args)
+
+        try:
+            vm.launch()
+        except:
+            # TODO: probably fails because plugins not enabled but we
+            # can't currently probe for the feature.
+            self.cancel("TCG Plugins not enabled?")
+
+        self.wait_for_console_pattern(console_pattern, vm)
+        # ensure logs are flushed
+        vm.shutdown()
+
+
+class PluginKernelNormal(PluginKernelBase):
+
+    def _grab_aarch64_kernel(self):
+        kernel_url = ('http://security.debian.org/'
+                      'debian-security/pool/updates/main/l/linux-signed-arm64/'
+                      'linux-image-4.19.0-12-arm64_4.19.152-1_arm64.deb')
+        kernel_sha1 = '2036c2792f80ac9c4ccaae742b2e0a28385b6010'
+        kernel_deb = self.fetch_asset(kernel_url, asset_hash=kernel_sha1)
+        kernel_path = self.extract_from_deb(kernel_deb,
+                                            "/boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-12-arm64")
+        return kernel_path
+
+    def test_aarch64_virt_insn(self):
+        """
+        :avocado: tags=accel:tcg
+        :avocado: tags=arch:aarch64
+        :avocado: tags=machine:virt
+        :avocado: tags=cpu:cortex-a57
+        """
+        kernel_path = self._grab_aarch64_kernel()
+        kernel_command_line = (self.KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE +
+                               'console=ttyAMA0')
+        console_pattern = 'Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS:'
+
+        plugin_log = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="r+t", prefix="plugin",
+                                                 suffix=".log")
+
+        self.run_vm(kernel_path, kernel_command_line,
+                    "tests/plugin/libinsn.so", plugin_log.name,
+                    console_pattern,
+                    args=('-cpu', 'cortex-a53'))
+
+        with plugin_log as lf, \
+             mmap.mmap(lf.fileno(), 0, access=mmap.ACCESS_READ) as s:
+
+            m = re.search(br"insns: (?P<count>\d+)", s)
+            if "count" not in m.groupdict():
+                self.fail("Failed to find instruction count")