diff --git a/tests/plugin/mem.c b/tests/plugin/mem.c
index afd1d27e5c..4570f7d815 100644
--- a/tests/plugin/mem.c
+++ b/tests/plugin/mem.c
@@ -80,29 +80,40 @@ QEMU_PLUGIN_EXPORT int qemu_plugin_install(qemu_plugin_id_t id,
                                            const qemu_info_t *info,
                                            int argc, char **argv)
 {
-    if (argc) {
-        if (argc >= 3) {
-            if (!strcmp(argv[2], "haddr")) {
-                do_haddr = true;
-            }
-        }
-        if (argc >= 2) {
-            const char *str = argv[1];
 
-            if (!strcmp(str, "r")) {
-                rw = QEMU_PLUGIN_MEM_R;
-            } else if (!strcmp(str, "w")) {
-                rw = QEMU_PLUGIN_MEM_W;
+    for (int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+        char *opt = argv[i];
+        g_autofree char **tokens = g_strsplit(opt, "=", 2);
+
+        if (g_strcmp0(tokens[0], "haddr") == 0) {
+            if (!qemu_plugin_bool_parse(tokens[0], tokens[1], &do_haddr)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "boolean argument parsing failed: %s\n", opt);
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (g_strcmp0(tokens[0], "track") == 0) {
+            if (g_strcmp0(tokens[1], "r") == 0) {
+                rw = QEMU_PLUGIN_MEM_R;
+            } else if (g_strcmp0(tokens[1], "w") == 0) {
+                rw = QEMU_PLUGIN_MEM_W;
+            } else if (g_strcmp0(tokens[1], "rw") == 0) {
+                rw = QEMU_PLUGIN_MEM_RW;
+            } else {
+                fprintf(stderr, "invaild value for argument track: %s\n", opt);
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (g_strcmp0(tokens[0], "inline") == 0) {
+            if (!qemu_plugin_bool_parse(tokens[0], tokens[1], &do_inline)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "boolean argument parsing failed: %s\n", opt);
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (g_strcmp0(tokens[0], "callback") == 0) {
+            if (!qemu_plugin_bool_parse(tokens[0], tokens[1], &do_callback)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "boolean argument parsing failed: %s\n", opt);
+                return -1;
             }
-        }
-        if (!strcmp(argv[0], "inline")) {
-            do_inline = true;
-            do_callback = false;
-        } else if (!strcmp(argv[0], "both")) {
-            do_inline = true;
-            do_callback = true;
         } else {
-            do_callback = true;
+            fprintf(stderr, "option parsing failed: %s\n", opt);
+            return -1;
         }
     }