diff --git a/block/qcow.c b/block/qcow.c
index 5a4f310..3b7c2b9 100644
--- a/block/qcow.c
+++ b/block/qcow.c
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@
 #include "qemu/module.h"
 #include <zlib.h>
 #include "qapi/qmp/qerror.h"
-#include "crypto/cipher.h"
+#include "crypto/block.h"
+#include "qapi/opts-visitor.h"
+#include "qapi-visit.h"
 #include "migration/migration.h"
 
 /**************************************************************/
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@
 
 #define QCOW_OFLAG_COMPRESSED (1LL << 63)
 
+#define QCOW_OPT_KEY_SECRET "key-secret"
+
 typedef struct QCowHeader {
     uint32_t magic;
     uint32_t version;
@@ -72,7 +76,7 @@ typedef struct BDRVQcowState {
     uint8_t *cluster_cache;
     uint8_t *cluster_data;
     uint64_t cluster_cache_offset;
-    QCryptoCipher *cipher; /* NULL if no key yet */
+    QCryptoBlock *crypto; /* Disk encryption format driver */
     uint32_t crypt_method_header;
     CoMutex lock;
     Error *migration_blocker;
@@ -92,6 +96,19 @@ static int qcow_probe(const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size, const char *filename)
         return 0;
 }
 
+static QemuOptsList qcow_runtime_opts = {
+    .name = "qcow",
+    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(qcow_runtime_opts.head),
+    .desc = {
+        {
+            .name = QCOW_OPT_KEY_SECRET,
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+            .help = "ID of the secret that provides the encryption key",
+        },
+        { /* end of list */ }
+    },
+};
+
 static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
                      Error **errp)
 {
@@ -99,6 +116,11 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     unsigned int len, i, shift;
     int ret;
     QCowHeader header;
+    QemuOpts *opts = NULL;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    QCryptoBlockOpenOptions *crypto_opts = NULL;
+    unsigned int cflags = 0;
+    OptsVisitor *ov;
 
     ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file->bs, 0, &header, sizeof(header));
     if (ret < 0) {
@@ -147,19 +169,50 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
         goto fail;
     }
 
-    if (header.crypt_method > QCOW_CRYPT_AES) {
-        error_setg(errp, "invalid encryption method in qcow header");
-        ret = -EINVAL;
-        goto fail;
-    }
-    if (!qcrypto_cipher_supports(QCRYPTO_CIPHER_ALG_AES_128)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "AES cipher not available");
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&qcow_runtime_opts, NULL, 0, &error_abort);
+    qemu_opts_absorb_qdict(opts, options, &local_err);
+    if (local_err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
         ret = -EINVAL;
         goto fail;
     }
+
     s->crypt_method_header = header.crypt_method;
     if (s->crypt_method_header) {
+        if (s->crypt_method_header == QCOW_CRYPT_AES) {
+            ov = opts_visitor_new(opts);
+
+            crypto_opts = g_new0(QCryptoBlockOpenOptions, 1);
+            crypto_opts->format = Q_CRYPTO_BLOCK_FORMAT_QCOW;
+            crypto_opts->u.qcow = g_new0(QCryptoBlockOptionsQCow, 1);
+            visit_type_QCryptoBlockOptionsQCow(opts_get_visitor(ov),
+                                               &crypto_opts->u.qcow,
+                                               "qcow", &local_err);
+            if (local_err) {
+                error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+                opts_visitor_cleanup(ov);
+                ret = -EINVAL;
+                goto fail;
+            }
+            opts_visitor_cleanup(ov);
+
+            if (flags & BDRV_O_NO_IO) {
+                cflags |= QCRYPTO_BLOCK_OPEN_NO_IO;
+            }
+            s->crypto = qcrypto_block_open(crypto_opts, NULL, NULL,
+                                           cflags, errp);
+            if (!s->crypto) {
+                error_setg(errp, "Could not setup encryption layer");
+                ret = -EINVAL;
+                goto fail;
+            }
+        } else {
+            error_setg(errp, "invalid encryption method in qcow header");
+            ret = -EINVAL;
+            goto fail;
+        }
         bs->encrypted = 1;
+        bs->valid_key = 1;
     }
     s->cluster_bits = header.cluster_bits;
     s->cluster_size = 1 << s->cluster_bits;
@@ -238,6 +291,7 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
                bdrv_get_device_or_node_name(bs));
     migrate_add_blocker(s->migration_blocker);
 
+    qapi_free_QCryptoBlockOpenOptions(crypto_opts);
     qemu_co_mutex_init(&s->lock);
     return 0;
 
@@ -246,6 +300,7 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     qemu_vfree(s->l2_cache);
     g_free(s->cluster_cache);
     g_free(s->cluster_data);
+    qapi_free_QCryptoBlockOpenOptions(crypto_opts);
     return ret;
 }
 
@@ -258,79 +313,6 @@ static int qcow_reopen_prepare(BDRVReopenState *state,
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int qcow_set_key(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *key)
-{
-    BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    uint8_t keybuf[16];
-    int len, i;
-    Error *err;
-
-    memset(keybuf, 0, 16);
-    len = strlen(key);
-    if (len > 16)
-        len = 16;
-    /* XXX: we could compress the chars to 7 bits to increase
-       entropy */
-    for(i = 0;i < len;i++) {
-        keybuf[i] = key[i];
-    }
-    assert(bs->encrypted);
-
-    qcrypto_cipher_free(s->cipher);
-    s->cipher = qcrypto_cipher_new(
-        QCRYPTO_CIPHER_ALG_AES_128,
-        QCRYPTO_CIPHER_MODE_CBC,
-        keybuf, G_N_ELEMENTS(keybuf),
-        &err);
-
-    if (!s->cipher) {
-        /* XXX would be nice if errors in this method could
-         * be properly propagate to the caller. Would need
-         * the bdrv_set_key() API signature to be fixed. */
-        error_free(err);
-        return -1;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-static int encrypt_sectors(BDRVQcowState *s, int64_t sector_num,
-                           uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors, bool enc,
-                           Error **errp)
-{
-    union {
-        uint64_t ll[2];
-        uint8_t b[16];
-    } ivec;
-    int i;
-    int ret;
-
-    for(i = 0; i < nb_sectors; i++) {
-        ivec.ll[0] = cpu_to_le64(sector_num);
-        ivec.ll[1] = 0;
-        if (qcrypto_cipher_setiv(s->cipher,
-                                 ivec.b, G_N_ELEMENTS(ivec.b),
-                                 errp) < 0) {
-            return -1;
-        }
-        if (enc) {
-            ret = qcrypto_cipher_encrypt(s->cipher,
-                                         buf, buf,
-                                         512,
-                                         errp);
-        } else {
-            ret = qcrypto_cipher_decrypt(s->cipher,
-                                         buf, buf,
-                                         512,
-                                         errp);
-        }
-        if (ret < 0) {
-            return -1;
-        }
-        sector_num++;
-        buf += 512;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
 
 /* 'allocate' is:
  *
@@ -445,15 +427,15 @@ static uint64_t get_cluster_offset(BlockDriverState *bs,
                 if (bs->encrypted &&
                     (n_end - n_start) < s->cluster_sectors) {
                     uint64_t start_sect;
-                    assert(s->cipher);
+                    assert(s->crypto);
                     start_sect = (offset & ~(s->cluster_size - 1)) >> 9;
                     memset(s->cluster_data, 0x00, 512);
                     for(i = 0; i < s->cluster_sectors; i++) {
                         if (i < n_start || i >= n_end) {
                             Error *err = NULL;
-                            if (encrypt_sectors(s, start_sect + i,
-                                                s->cluster_data, 1,
-                                                true, &err) < 0) {
+                            if (qcrypto_block_encrypt(s->crypto, start_sect + i,
+                                                      s->cluster_data, 1,
+                                                      &err) < 0) {
                                 error_free(err);
                                 errno = EIO;
                                 return -1;
@@ -498,7 +480,7 @@ static int64_t coroutine_fn qcow_co_get_block_status(BlockDriverState *bs,
     if (!cluster_offset) {
         return 0;
     }
-    if ((cluster_offset & QCOW_OFLAG_COMPRESSED) || s->cipher) {
+    if ((cluster_offset & QCOW_OFLAG_COMPRESSED) || s->crypto) {
         return BDRV_BLOCK_DATA;
     }
     cluster_offset |= (index_in_cluster << BDRV_SECTOR_BITS);
@@ -629,9 +611,9 @@ static coroutine_fn int qcow_co_readv(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
                 break;
             }
             if (bs->encrypted) {
-                assert(s->cipher);
-                if (encrypt_sectors(s, sector_num, buf,
-                                    n, false, &err) < 0) {
+                assert(s->crypto);
+                if (qcrypto_block_decrypt(s->crypto, sector_num, buf,
+                                          n, &err) < 0) {
                     goto fail;
                 }
             }
@@ -703,12 +685,12 @@ static coroutine_fn int qcow_co_writev(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
         }
         if (bs->encrypted) {
             Error *err = NULL;
-            assert(s->cipher);
+            assert(s->crypto);
             if (!cluster_data) {
                 cluster_data = g_malloc0(s->cluster_size);
             }
-            if (encrypt_sectors(s, sector_num, buf,
-                                n, true, &err) < 0) {
+            if (qcrypto_block_encrypt(s->crypto, sector_num, buf,
+                                      n, &err) < 0) {
                 error_free(err);
                 ret = -EIO;
                 break;
@@ -746,8 +728,8 @@ static void qcow_close(BlockDriverState *bs)
 {
     BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
 
-    qcrypto_cipher_free(s->cipher);
-    s->cipher = NULL;
+    qcrypto_block_free(s->crypto);
+    s->crypto = NULL;
     g_free(s->l1_table);
     qemu_vfree(s->l2_cache);
     g_free(s->cluster_cache);
@@ -1012,7 +994,6 @@ static BlockDriver bdrv_qcow = {
     .bdrv_co_writev         = qcow_co_writev,
     .bdrv_co_get_block_status   = qcow_co_get_block_status,
 
-    .bdrv_set_key           = qcow_set_key,
     .bdrv_make_empty        = qcow_make_empty,
     .bdrv_write_compressed  = qcow_write_compressed,
     .bdrv_get_info          = qcow_get_info,
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index b704dd7..e0d423f 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -1756,6 +1756,21 @@
             'mode':  'Qcow2OverlapCheckMode' } }
 
 ##
+# @BlockdevOptionsQcow
+#
+# Driver specific block device options for qcow.
+#
+# @key-secret:   #optional ID of the "secret" object providing the
+#                AES decryption key.
+#
+# Since: 2.6
+##
+{ 'struct': 'BlockdevOptionsQcow',
+  'base': 'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
+  'data': { '*key-secret': 'str' } }
+
+
+##
 # @BlockdevOptionsQcow2
 #
 # Driver specific block device options for qcow2.
@@ -2024,7 +2039,7 @@
       'null-co':    'BlockdevOptionsNull',
       'parallels':  'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
       'qcow2':      'BlockdevOptionsQcow2',
-      'qcow':       'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
+      'qcow':       'BlockdevOptionsQcow',
       'qed':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
       'quorum':     'BlockdevOptionsQuorum',
       'raw':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
