diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py b/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
index 4c8971d946..11276f380a 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
@@ -696,9 +696,10 @@ class VM(qtest.QEMUQtestMachine):
         self.hmp(f'qemu-io {drive} "remove_break bp_{drive}"')
 
     def hmp_qemu_io(self, drive: str, cmd: str,
-                    use_log: bool = False) -> QMPMessage:
+                    use_log: bool = False, qdev: bool = False) -> QMPMessage:
         """Write to a given drive using an HMP command"""
-        return self.hmp(f'qemu-io {drive} "{cmd}"', use_log=use_log)
+        d = '-d ' if qdev else ''
+        return self.hmp(f'qemu-io {d}{drive} "{cmd}"', use_log=use_log)
 
     def flatten_qmp_object(self, obj, output=None, basestr=''):
         if output is None: