diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index a8ae3fe0d009bcfb2a2db1828df9ab3f0a037527..2997f1f95d7edb4b7b73b7562fbde13decd9403b 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -3291,6 +3291,9 @@ qemuGetCompressionProgram(const char *imageFormat,
     if ((ret = qemuSaveCompressionTypeFromString(imageFormat)) < 0)
         goto error;
 
+    if (ret == QEMU_SAVE_FORMAT_RAW)
+        return QEMU_SAVE_FORMAT_RAW;
+
     if (!(*compresspath = virFindFileInPath(imageFormat)))
         goto error;