diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 019065fd0286b64d2e058821d33ec6f6d54467f3..ab2f0ead5f35eab82c138a437b4fd7db5723eb5f 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -3278,16 +3278,23 @@ virStorageSourceParseBackingJSONUri(virStorageSourcePtr src,
     if (protocol == VIR_STORAGE_NET_PROTOCOL_HTTPS ||
         protocol == VIR_STORAGE_NET_PROTOCOL_FTPS) {
         if (virJSONValueObjectHasKey(json, "sslverify")) {
+            const char *tmpstr;
             bool tmp;
 
-            if (virJSONValueObjectGetBoolean(json, "sslverify", &tmp) < 0) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
-                               _("malformed 'sslverify' field in backing store definition '%s'"),
-                               jsonstr);
-                return -1;
-            }
+            /* libguestfs still uses undocumented legacy value of 'off' */
+            if ((tmpstr = virJSONValueObjectGetString(json, "sslverify")) &&
+                STREQ(tmpstr, "off")) {
+                src->sslverify = VIR_TRISTATE_BOOL_NO;
+            } else {
+                if (virJSONValueObjectGetBoolean(json, "sslverify", &tmp) < 0) {
+                    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
+                                   _("malformed 'sslverify' field in backing store definition '%s'"),
+                                   jsonstr);
+                    return -1;
+                }
 
-            src->sslverify = virTristateBoolFromBool(tmp);
+                src->sslverify = virTristateBoolFromBool(tmp);
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/virstoragetest.c b/tests/virstoragetest.c
index b49dfd25980dccc26b838312558a7727b8b57bba..c59511114d96c6f5c94a36da76c8c2a151829cea 100644
--- a/tests/virstoragetest.c
+++ b/tests/virstoragetest.c
@@ -1622,6 +1622,21 @@ mymain(void)
                            "  <timeout seconds='2000'/>\n"
                            "</source>\n", 0);
 
+    TEST_BACKING_PARSE_FULL("json:{ \"file.cookie\": \"vmware_soap_session=\\\"0c8db85112873a79b7ef74f294cb70ef7f\\\"\","
+                                   "\"file.sslverify\": \"off\","
+                                   "\"file.driver\": \"https\","
+                                   "\"file.url\": \"https://host/folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64-flat.vmdk?dcPath=data&dsName=esx6.5-matrix\","
+                                   "\"file.timeout\": 2000"
+                                 "}",
+                           "<source protocol='https' name='folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64-flat.vmdk'>\n"
+                           "  <host name='host' port='443'/>\n"
+                           "  <ssl verify='no'/>\n"
+                           "  <cookies>\n"
+                           "    <cookie name='vmware_soap_session'>&quot;0c8db85112873a79b7ef74f294cb70ef7f&quot;</cookie>\n"
+                           "  </cookies>\n"
+                           "  <timeout seconds='2000'/>\n"
+                           "</source>\n", 0);
+
 #endif /* WITH_YAJL */
 
  cleanup: