diff --git a/tests/virtio-blk-test.c b/tests/virtio-blk-test.c
index b02be0274e69f3d8ccdb5065e3870e6f715cc3f0..b65365934b5eb67575703cd64ee2192ea4eeb38a 100644
--- a/tests/virtio-blk-test.c
+++ b/tests/virtio-blk-test.c
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ static void *virtio_blk_test_setup(GString *cmd_line, void *arg)
     char *tmp_path = drive_create();
 
     g_string_append_printf(cmd_line,
-                           " -drive if=none,id=drive0,file=%s,format=raw "
+                           " -drive if=none,id=drive0,file=%s,format=raw,auto-read-only=off "
                            "-drive if=none,id=drive1,file=null-co://,format=raw ",
                            tmp_path);