diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
index d794e624e7..d90a8bca8b 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.config
@@ -125,6 +125,17 @@ fi
 
 export TEST_DIR
 
+if [ -z "$SAMPLE_IMG_DIR" ]; then
+        SAMPLE_IMG_DIR=`pwd`/sample_images
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d "$SAMPLE_IMG_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "common.config: Error: \$SAMPLE_IMG_DIR ($SAMPLE_IMG_DIR) is not a directory"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+export SAMPLE_IMG_DIR
+
 _readlink()
 {
     if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
index 28b39e429e..6730955288 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
@@ -91,6 +91,18 @@ _set_default_imgopts()
     fi
 }
 
+_use_sample_img()
+{
+    SAMPLE_IMG_FILE="${1%\.bz2}"
+    TEST_IMG="$TEST_DIR/$SAMPLE_IMG_FILE"
+    bzcat "$SAMPLE_IMG_DIR/$1" > "$TEST_IMG"
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+    then
+        echo "_use_sample_img error, cannot extract '$SAMPLE_IMG_DIR/$1'"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
 _make_test_img()
 {
     # extra qemu-img options can be added by tests
@@ -158,6 +170,10 @@ _cleanup_test_img()
             rm -f $TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
             rm -f $TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT.orig
             rm -f $TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT.base
+            if [ -n "$SAMPLE_IMG_FILE" ]
+            then
+                rm -f "$TEST_DIR/$SAMPLE_IMG_FILE"
+            fi
             ;;
 
         rbd)
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/README b/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..507af5f5ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/README
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+This is for small sample images to be used with qemu-iotests, intended for
+non-native formats that QEMU supports for compatibility.  The idea is to use
+the native tool to create the sample image.
+
+For instance, a VHDX image in this directory would be an image created not by
+QEMU itself, but rather created by Hyper-V.
+
+Sample images added here must be compressed with bzip2.