diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 3621d11de0..c9fa5c17ff 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 
 typedef enum {
     BDRV_REQ_COPY_ON_READ = 0x1,
+    BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE   = 0x2,
 } BdrvRequestFlags;
 
 static void bdrv_dev_change_media_cb(BlockDriverState *bs, bool load);
@@ -69,7 +70,8 @@ static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_readv(BlockDriverState *bs,
     int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov,
     BdrvRequestFlags flags);
 static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_writev(BlockDriverState *bs,
-    int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov);
+    int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov,
+    BdrvRequestFlags flags);
 static BlockDriverAIOCB *bdrv_co_aio_rw_vector(BlockDriverState *bs,
                                                int64_t sector_num,
                                                QEMUIOVector *qiov,
@@ -1300,7 +1302,7 @@ static void coroutine_fn bdrv_rw_co_entry(void *opaque)
                                      rwco->nb_sectors, rwco->qiov, 0);
     } else {
         rwco->ret = bdrv_co_do_writev(rwco->bs, rwco->sector_num,
-                                      rwco->nb_sectors, rwco->qiov);
+                                      rwco->nb_sectors, rwco->qiov, 0);
     }
 }
 
@@ -1639,11 +1641,37 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_copy_on_readv(BlockDriverState *bs,
                             BDRV_REQ_COPY_ON_READ);
 }
 
+static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_write_zeroes(BlockDriverState *bs,
+    int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors)
+{
+    BlockDriver *drv = bs->drv;
+    QEMUIOVector qiov;
+    struct iovec iov;
+    int ret;
+
+    /* First try the efficient write zeroes operation */
+    if (drv->bdrv_co_write_zeroes) {
+        return drv->bdrv_co_write_zeroes(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors);
+    }
+
+    /* Fall back to bounce buffer if write zeroes is unsupported */
+    iov.iov_len  = nb_sectors * BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
+    iov.iov_base = qemu_blockalign(bs, iov.iov_len);
+    memset(iov.iov_base, 0, iov.iov_len);
+    qemu_iovec_init_external(&qiov, &iov, 1);
+
+    ret = drv->bdrv_co_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, &qiov);
+
+    qemu_vfree(iov.iov_base);
+    return ret;
+}
+
 /*
  * Handle a write request in coroutine context
  */
 static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_writev(BlockDriverState *bs,
-    int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov)
+    int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov,
+    BdrvRequestFlags flags)
 {
     BlockDriver *drv = bs->drv;
     BdrvTrackedRequest req;
@@ -1670,7 +1698,11 @@ static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_writev(BlockDriverState *bs,
 
     tracked_request_begin(&req, bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, true);
 
-    ret = drv->bdrv_co_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, qiov);
+    if (flags & BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE) {
+        ret = bdrv_co_do_write_zeroes(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors);
+    } else {
+        ret = drv->bdrv_co_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, qiov);
+    }
 
     if (bs->dirty_bitmap) {
         set_dirty_bitmap(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, 1);
@@ -1690,7 +1722,16 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_writev(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
 {
     trace_bdrv_co_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors);
 
-    return bdrv_co_do_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, qiov);
+    return bdrv_co_do_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, qiov, 0);
+}
+
+int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_write_zeroes(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                      int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors)
+{
+    trace_bdrv_co_write_zeroes(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors);
+
+    return bdrv_co_do_writev(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, NULL,
+                             BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -3192,7 +3233,7 @@ static void coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_rw(void *opaque)
             acb->req.nb_sectors, acb->req.qiov, 0);
     } else {
         acb->req.error = bdrv_co_do_writev(bs, acb->req.sector,
-            acb->req.nb_sectors, acb->req.qiov);
+            acb->req.nb_sectors, acb->req.qiov, 0);
     }
 
     acb->bh = qemu_bh_new(bdrv_co_em_bh, acb);
diff --git a/block.h b/block.h
index cae289b2fb..60ea7308c6 100644
--- a/block.h
+++ b/block.h
@@ -146,6 +146,14 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_copy_on_readv(BlockDriverState *bs,
     int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov);
 int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_writev(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
     int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov);
+/*
+ * Efficiently zero a region of the disk image.  Note that this is a regular
+ * I/O request like read or write and should have a reasonable size.  This
+ * function is not suitable for zeroing the entire image in a single request
+ * because it may allocate memory for the entire region.
+ */
+int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_write_zeroes(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
+    int nb_sectors);
 int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_is_allocated(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
     int nb_sectors, int *pnum);
 BlockDriverState *bdrv_find_backing_image(BlockDriverState *bs,
diff --git a/block_int.h b/block_int.h
index 7be2988ca7..7946cf66a1 100644
--- a/block_int.h
+++ b/block_int.h
@@ -131,6 +131,14 @@ struct BlockDriver {
         int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov);
     int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_writev)(BlockDriverState *bs,
         int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, QEMUIOVector *qiov);
+    /*
+     * Efficiently zero a region of the disk image.  Typically an image format
+     * would use a compact metadata representation to implement this.  This
+     * function pointer may be NULL and .bdrv_co_writev() will be called
+     * instead.
+     */
+    int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_write_zeroes)(BlockDriverState *bs,
+        int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors);
     int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_discard)(BlockDriverState *bs,
         int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors);
     int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_is_allocated)(BlockDriverState *bs,
diff --git a/trace-events b/trace-events
index 5d05749643..3372087ed9 100644
--- a/trace-events
+++ b/trace-events
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ bdrv_lock_medium(void *bs, bool locked) "bs %p locked %d"
 bdrv_co_readv(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sector) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d"
 bdrv_co_copy_on_readv(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sector) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d"
 bdrv_co_writev(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sector) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d"
+bdrv_co_write_zeroes(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sector) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d"
 bdrv_co_io_em(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, int is_write, void *acb) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d is_write %d acb %p"
 bdrv_co_do_copy_on_readv(void *bs, int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, int64_t cluster_sector_num, int cluster_nb_sectors) "bs %p sector_num %"PRId64" nb_sectors %d cluster_sector_num %"PRId64" cluster_nb_sectors %d"