diff --git a/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain.h b/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain.h
index baef32d809b958e71fd503986072e92809439f2a..0b1a2d6dd4d95a7436258881cd59da46ecbcc83d 100644
--- a/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain.h
+++ b/include/libvirt/libvirt-domain.h
@@ -1705,6 +1705,7 @@ typedef enum {
     VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_SHUTOFF = VIR_CONNECT_LIST_DOMAINS_SHUTOFF,
     VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_OTHER = VIR_CONNECT_LIST_DOMAINS_OTHER,
 
+    VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_BACKING = 1 << 30, /* include backing chain for block stats */
     VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_ENFORCE_STATS = 1 << 31, /* enforce requested stats */
 } virConnectGetAllDomainStatsFlags;
 
diff --git a/src/libvirt-domain.c b/src/libvirt-domain.c
index cb76d8ce58d745978727193efb3465a0780651b9..6ec68aa71770c72d7ebe72d78dd5069189f94d1d 100644
--- a/src/libvirt-domain.c
+++ b/src/libvirt-domain.c
@@ -10903,13 +10903,22 @@ virConnectGetDomainCapabilities(virConnectPtr conn,
  * "net.<num>.tx.errs" - transmission errors as unsigned long long.
  * "net.<num>.tx.drop" - transmit packets dropped as unsigned long long.
  *
- * VIR_DOMAIN_STATS_BLOCK: Return block devices statistics.
+ * VIR_DOMAIN_STATS_BLOCK: Return block devices statistics.  By default,
+ * this information is limited to the active layer of each <disk> of the
+ * domain (where block.count is equal to the number of disks), but adding
+ * VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_BACKING to @flags will expand the
+ * array to cover backing chains (block.count corresponds to the number
+ * of host resources used together to provide the guest disks).
  * The typed parameter keys are in this format:
- * "block.count" - number of block devices on this domain
+ * "block.count" - number of block devices in the subsequent list,
  *                 as unsigned int.
  * "block.<num>.name" - name of the block device <num> as string.
  *                      matches the target name (vda/sda/hda) of the
- *                      block device.
+ *                      block device.  If the backing chain is listed,
+ *                      this name is the same for all host resources tied
+ *                      to the same guest device.
+ * "block.<num>.backingIndex" - unsigned int giving the <backingStore> index,
+ *                              only used when backing images are listed.
  * "block.<num>.path" - string describing the source of block device <num>,
  *                      if it is a file or block device (omitted for network
  *                      sources and drives with no media inserted).
diff --git a/tools/virsh-domain-monitor.c b/tools/virsh-domain-monitor.c
index 259400ffa843e5c43faa6f70514732ca6765483b..214c0b29eb63945c74d8869b61588025f9dcf056 100644
--- a/tools/virsh-domain-monitor.c
+++ b/tools/virsh-domain-monitor.c
@@ -2037,6 +2037,10 @@ static const vshCmdOptDef opts_domstats[] = {
      .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
      .help = N_("enforce requested stats parameters"),
     },
+    {.name = "backing",
+     .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
+     .help = N_("add backing chain information to block stats"),
+    },
     {.name = "domain",
      .type = VSH_OT_ARGV,
      .flags = VSH_OFLAG_NONE,
@@ -2130,6 +2134,9 @@ cmdDomstats(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "enforce"))
         flags |= VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_ENFORCE_STATS;
 
+    if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "backing"))
+        flags |= VIR_CONNECT_GET_ALL_DOMAINS_STATS_BACKING;
+
     if (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "domain")) {
         if (VIR_ALLOC_N(domlist, 1) < 0)
             goto cleanup;
diff --git a/tools/virsh.pod b/tools/virsh.pod
index 0eba2c1ceb880f09650ec0d5f165f09e5221869b..63b6035109111c8ede6226946b6e7bb73f932392 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.pod
+++ b/tools/virsh.pod
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@ that require a block device name (such as I<domblkinfo> or
 I<snapshot-create> for disk snapshots) will accept either target
 or unique source names printed by this command.
 
-=item B<domstats> [I<--raw>] [I<--enforce>] [I<--state>]
+=item B<domstats> [I<--raw>] [I<--enforce>] [I<--backing>] [I<--state>]
 [I<--cpu-total>] [I<--balloon>] [I<--vcpu>] [I<--interface>] [I<--block>]
 [[I<--list-active>] [I<--list-inactive>] [I<--list-persistent>]
 [I<--list-transient>] [I<--list-running>] [I<--list-paused>]
@@ -880,9 +880,16 @@ I<--interface> returns:
 "net.<num>.tx.errs" - number of transmission errors,
 "net.<num>.tx.drop" - number of transmit packets dropped
 
-I<--block> returns:
-"block.count" - number of block devices on this domain,
-"block.<num>.name" - name of the target of the block device <num>,
+I<--block> returns information about disks associated with each
+domain.  Using the I<--backing> flag extends this information to
+cover all resources in the backing chain, rather than the default
+of limiting information to the active layer for each guest disk.
+Information listed includes:
+"block.count" - number of block devices being listed,
+"block.<num>.name" - name of the target of the block device <num> (the
+same name for multiple entries if I<--backing> is present),
+"block.<num>.backingIndex" - when I<--backing> is present, matches up
+with the <backingStore> index listed in domain XML for backing files,
 "block.<num>.path" - file source of block device <num>, if it is a
 local file or block device,
 "block.<num>.rd.reqs" - number of read requests,