diff --git a/qemu-img-cmds.hx b/qemu-img-cmds.hx
index 55aec6bded3b090cbdf908eee3f04e129ba5ba90..e2ceadff6df1fd62f97abaf48836a1586f97354c 100644
--- a/qemu-img-cmds.hx
+++ b/qemu-img-cmds.hx
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ STEXI
 ETEXI
 
 DEF("commit", img_commit,
-    "commit [-q] [-f fmt] [-t cache] filename")
+    "commit [-q] [-f fmt] [-t cache] [-d] filename")
 STEXI
-@item commit [-q] [-f @var{fmt}] [-t @var{cache}] @var{filename}
+@item commit [-q] [-f @var{fmt}] [-t @var{cache}] [-d] @var{filename}
 ETEXI
 
 DEF("compare", img_compare,
diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 494146d6bbfb60c15d56ecda34db6ea7d238a78d..cf8c01c13ef8297ad02085d9bd13285dcc9e73a1 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -757,14 +757,14 @@ static int img_commit(int argc, char **argv)
     const char *filename, *fmt, *cache;
     BlockBackend *blk;
     BlockDriverState *bs, *base_bs;
-    bool quiet = false;
+    bool quiet = false, drop = false;
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     CommonBlockJobCBInfo cbi;
 
     fmt = NULL;
     cache = BDRV_DEFAULT_CACHE;
     for(;;) {
-        c = getopt(argc, argv, "f:ht:q");
+        c = getopt(argc, argv, "f:ht:dq");
         if (c == -1) {
             break;
         }
@@ -779,6 +779,9 @@ static int img_commit(int argc, char **argv)
         case 't':
             cache = optarg;
             break;
+        case 'd':
+            drop = true;
+            break;
         case 'q':
             quiet = true;
             break;
@@ -789,7 +792,7 @@ static int img_commit(int argc, char **argv)
     }
     filename = argv[optind++];
 
-    flags = BDRV_O_RDWR;
+    flags = BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_UNMAP;
     ret = bdrv_parse_cache_flags(cache, &flags);
     if (ret < 0) {
         error_report("Invalid cache option: %s", cache);
@@ -822,7 +825,32 @@ static int img_commit(int argc, char **argv)
         goto done;
     }
 
+    /* The block job will swap base_bs and bs (which is not what we really want
+     * here, but okay) and unref base_bs (after the swap, i.e., the old top
+     * image). In order to still be able to empty that top image afterwards,
+     * increment the reference counter here preemptively. */
+    if (!drop) {
+        bdrv_ref(base_bs);
+    }
+
     run_block_job(bs->job, &local_err);
+    if (local_err) {
+        goto unref_backing;
+    }
+
+    if (!drop && base_bs->drv->bdrv_make_empty) {
+        ret = base_bs->drv->bdrv_make_empty(base_bs);
+        if (ret) {
+            error_setg_errno(&local_err, -ret, "Could not empty %s",
+                             filename);
+            goto unref_backing;
+        }
+    }
+
+unref_backing:
+    if (!drop) {
+        bdrv_unref(base_bs);
+    }
 
 done:
     blk_unref(blk);
diff --git a/qemu-img.texi b/qemu-img.texi
index e3ef4a00e96923f5792fd237fe358b450451587e..420bd911775545c7b2de180efee6b8a327943f3e 100644
--- a/qemu-img.texi
+++ b/qemu-img.texi
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ this case. @var{backing_file} will never be modified unless you use the
 The size can also be specified using the @var{size} option with @code{-o},
 it doesn't need to be specified separately in this case.
 
-@item commit [-f @var{fmt}] [-t @var{cache}] @var{filename}
+@item commit [-f @var{fmt}] [-t @var{cache}] [-d] @var{filename}
 
 Commit the changes recorded in @var{filename} in its base image or backing file.
 If the backing file is smaller than the snapshot, then the backing file will be
@@ -176,6 +176,10 @@ the backing file, the backing file will not be truncated.  If you want the
 backing file to match the size of the smaller snapshot, you can safely truncate
 it yourself once the commit operation successfully completes.
 
+The image @var{filename} is emptied after the operation has succeeded. If you do
+not need @var{filename} afterwards and intend to drop it, you may skip emptying
+@var{filename} by specifying the @code{-d} flag.
+
 @item compare [-f @var{fmt}] [-F @var{fmt}] [-T @var{src_cache}] [-p] [-s] [-q] @var{filename1} @var{filename2}
 
 Check if two images have the same content. You can compare images with