diff --git a/trace-events b/trace-events
index 8389d83568b541e3c0e5124ad6a1fc84b8215602..d6a847d18aa512b0b78ea75cdcea5341c1742a76 100644
--- a/trace-events
+++ b/trace-events
@@ -473,6 +473,7 @@ scsi_request_sense(int target, int lun, int tag) "target %d lun %d tag %d"
 
 # vl.c
 vm_state_notify(int running, int reason) "running %d reason %d"
+load_file(const char *name, const char *path) "name %s location %s"
 
 # block/qcow2.c
 qcow2_writev_start_req(void *co, int64_t sector, int nb_sectors) "co %p sector %" PRIx64 " nb_sectors %d"
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 3822d99425f430ef8f7886e21d8814ebc007e309..a621aec0a42114236b09819072dd41dbc286eeb5 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -179,7 +179,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #define MAX_VIRTIO_CONSOLES 1
 #define MAX_SCLP_CONSOLES 1
 
-static const char *data_dir;
+static const char *data_dir[16];
+static int data_dir_idx;
 const char *bios_name = NULL;
 enum vga_retrace_method vga_retrace_method = VGA_RETRACE_DUMB;
 DisplayType display_type = DT_DEFAULT;
@@ -2276,14 +2277,16 @@ static int balloon_parse(const char *arg)
 
 char *qemu_find_file(int type, const char *name)
 {
-    int len;
+    int i;
     const char *subdir;
     char *buf;
 
     /* Try the name as a straight path first */
     if (access(name, R_OK) == 0) {
+        trace_load_file(name, name);
         return g_strdup(name);
     }
+
     switch (type) {
     case QEMU_FILE_TYPE_BIOS:
         subdir = "";
@@ -2294,14 +2297,16 @@ char *qemu_find_file(int type, const char *name)
     default:
         abort();
     }
-    len = strlen(data_dir) + strlen(name) + strlen(subdir) + 2;
-    buf = g_malloc0(len);
-    snprintf(buf, len, "%s/%s%s", data_dir, subdir, name);
-    if (access(buf, R_OK)) {
+
+    for (i = 0; i < data_dir_idx; i++) {
+        buf = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s%s", data_dir[i], subdir, name);
+        if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0) {
+            trace_load_file(name, buf);
+            return buf;
+        }
         g_free(buf);
-        return NULL;
     }
-    return buf;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 static int device_help_func(QemuOpts *opts, void *opaque)
@@ -3285,7 +3290,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 add_device_config(DEV_GDB, optarg);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_L:
-                data_dir = optarg;
+                if (data_dir_idx < ARRAY_SIZE(data_dir)) {
+                    data_dir[data_dir_idx++] = optarg;
+                }
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_bios:
                 bios_name = optarg;
@@ -3925,12 +3932,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     /* If no data_dir is specified then try to find it relative to the
        executable path.  */
-    if (!data_dir) {
-        data_dir = os_find_datadir(argv[0]);
+    if (data_dir_idx < ARRAY_SIZE(data_dir)) {
+        data_dir[data_dir_idx] = os_find_datadir(argv[0]);
+        if (data_dir[data_dir_idx] != NULL) {
+            data_dir_idx++;
+        }
     }
     /* If all else fails use the install path specified when building. */
-    if (!data_dir) {
-        data_dir = CONFIG_QEMU_DATADIR;
+    if (data_dir_idx < ARRAY_SIZE(data_dir)) {
+        data_dir[data_dir_idx++] = CONFIG_QEMU_DATADIR;
     }
 
     /*