diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 0b38c3df7165bd3aed13194750d8d040de4dac82..0d3773bcb84183845921a5b64730fe4356382b52 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -3151,6 +3151,7 @@ static BlockJob *do_drive_backup(DriveBackup *backup, BlockJobTxn *txn,
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     int flags;
     int64_t size;
+    bool set_backing_hd = false;
 
     if (!backup->has_speed) {
         backup->speed = 0;
@@ -3201,6 +3202,8 @@ static BlockJob *do_drive_backup(DriveBackup *backup, BlockJobTxn *txn,
     }
     if (backup->sync == MIRROR_SYNC_MODE_NONE) {
         source = bs;
+        flags |= BDRV_O_NO_BACKING;
+        set_backing_hd = true;
     }
 
     size = bdrv_getlength(bs);
@@ -3227,7 +3230,9 @@ static BlockJob *do_drive_backup(DriveBackup *backup, BlockJobTxn *txn,
     }
 
     if (backup->format) {
-        options = qdict_new();
+        if (!options) {
+            options = qdict_new();
+        }
         qdict_put_str(options, "driver", backup->format);
     }
 
@@ -3238,6 +3243,14 @@ static BlockJob *do_drive_backup(DriveBackup *backup, BlockJobTxn *txn,
 
     bdrv_set_aio_context(target_bs, aio_context);
 
+    if (set_backing_hd) {
+        bdrv_set_backing_hd(target_bs, source, &local_err);
+        if (local_err) {
+            bdrv_unref(target_bs);
+            goto out;
+        }
+    }
+
     if (backup->has_bitmap) {
         bmap = bdrv_find_dirty_bitmap(bs, backup->bitmap);
         if (!bmap) {