diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/framework.c b/tests/qtest/migration/framework.c
index 03640e4..8d34cb2 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/framework.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/framework.c
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #include "migration/migration-qmp.h"
 #include "migration/migration-util.h"
 #include "ppc-util.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/qjson.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qlist.h"
 #include "qemu/module.h"
 #include "qemu/option.h"
@@ -686,6 +688,7 @@ void test_precopy_common(MigrateCommon *args)
 {
     QTestState *from, *to;
     void *data_hook = NULL;
+    QObject *out_channels = NULL;
 
     if (migrate_start(&from, &to, args->listen_uri, &args->start)) {
         return;
@@ -718,12 +721,16 @@ void test_precopy_common(MigrateCommon *args)
         }
     }
 
+    if (args->connect_channels) {
+        out_channels = qobject_from_json(args->connect_channels, &error_abort);
+    }
+
     if (args->result == MIG_TEST_QMP_ERROR) {
-        migrate_qmp_fail(from, args->connect_uri, args->connect_channels, "{}");
+        migrate_qmp_fail(from, args->connect_uri, out_channels, "{}");
         goto finish;
     }
 
-    migrate_qmp(from, to, args->connect_uri, args->connect_channels, "{}");
+    migrate_qmp(from, to, args->connect_uri, out_channels, "{}");
 
     if (args->start.defer_target_connect) {
         qtest_connect(to);
@@ -873,7 +880,7 @@ void test_file_common(MigrateCommon *args, bool stop_src)
      * We need to wait for the source to finish before starting the
      * destination.
      */
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, args->connect_uri, "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, args->connect_uri, NULL, "{}");
     wait_for_migration_complete(to);
 
     if (stop_src) {
@@ -909,7 +916,7 @@ void *migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(QTestState *from,
     migrate_set_capability(to, "multifd", true);
 
     /* Start incoming migration from the 1st socket */
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", NULL, "{}");
 
     return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.c b/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.c
index 71b14b5..f7a597d 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.c
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@
 #include "migration-qmp.h"
 #include "migration-util.h"
 #include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-types-migration.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-visit-migration.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qdict.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qjson.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qlist.h"
+#include "qapi/qobject-input-visitor.h"
+#include "qapi/qobject-output-visitor.h"
 
 /*
  * Number of seconds we wait when looking for migration
@@ -47,8 +51,33 @@ void migration_event_wait(QTestState *s, const char *target)
     } while (!found);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Convert a string representing a single channel to an object.
+ * @str may be in JSON or dotted keys format.
+ */
+QObject *migrate_str_to_channel(const char *str)
+{
+    Visitor *v;
+    MigrationChannel *channel;
+    QObject *obj;
+
+    /* Create the channel */
+    v = qobject_input_visitor_new_str(str, "channel-type", &error_abort);
+    visit_type_MigrationChannel(v, NULL, &channel, &error_abort);
+    visit_free(v);
+
+    /* Create the object */
+    v = qobject_output_visitor_new(&obj);
+    visit_type_MigrationChannel(v, NULL, &channel, &error_abort);
+    visit_complete(v, &obj);
+    visit_free(v);
+
+    qapi_free_MigrationChannel(channel);
+    return obj;
+}
+
 void migrate_qmp_fail(QTestState *who, const char *uri,
-                      const char *channels, const char *fmt, ...)
+                      QObject *channels, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;
     QDict *args, *err;
@@ -64,8 +93,7 @@ void migrate_qmp_fail(QTestState *who, const char *uri,
 
     g_assert(!qdict_haskey(args, "channels"));
     if (channels) {
-        QObject *channels_obj = qobject_from_json(channels, &error_abort);
-        qdict_put_obj(args, "channels", channels_obj);
+        qdict_put_obj(args, "channels", channels);
     }
 
     err = qtest_qmp_assert_failure_ref(
@@ -82,7 +110,7 @@ void migrate_qmp_fail(QTestState *who, const char *uri,
  * qobject_from_jsonf_nofail()) with "uri": @uri spliced in.
  */
 void migrate_qmp(QTestState *who, QTestState *to, const char *uri,
-                 const char *channels, const char *fmt, ...)
+                 QObject *channels, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;
     QDict *args;
@@ -102,10 +130,9 @@ void migrate_qmp(QTestState *who, QTestState *to, const char *uri,
 
     g_assert(!qdict_haskey(args, "channels"));
     if (channels) {
-        QObject *channels_obj = qobject_from_json(channels, &error_abort);
-        QList *channel_list = qobject_to(QList, channels_obj);
+        QList *channel_list = qobject_to(QList, channels);
         migrate_set_ports(to, channel_list);
-        qdict_put_obj(args, "channels", channels_obj);
+        qdict_put_obj(args, "channels", channels);
     }
 
     qtest_qmp_assert_success(who,
@@ -123,7 +150,8 @@ void migrate_set_capability(QTestState *who, const char *capability,
                              capability, value);
 }
 
-void migrate_incoming_qmp(QTestState *to, const char *uri, const char *fmt, ...)
+void migrate_incoming_qmp(QTestState *to, const char *uri, QObject *channels,
+                          const char *fmt, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;
     QDict *args, *rsp;
@@ -133,7 +161,14 @@ void migrate_incoming_qmp(QTestState *to, const char *uri, const char *fmt, ...)
     va_end(ap);
 
     g_assert(!qdict_haskey(args, "uri"));
-    qdict_put_str(args, "uri", uri);
+    if (uri) {
+        qdict_put_str(args, "uri", uri);
+    }
+
+    g_assert(!qdict_haskey(args, "channels"));
+    if (channels) {
+        qdict_put_obj(args, "channels", channels);
+    }
 
     /* This function relies on the event to work, make sure it's enabled */
     migrate_set_capability(to, "events", true);
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.h b/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.h
index caaa787..faa8181 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.h
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/migration-qmp.h
@@ -4,17 +4,19 @@
 
 #include "migration-util.h"
 
+QObject *migrate_str_to_channel(const char *str);
+
 G_GNUC_PRINTF(4, 5)
 void migrate_qmp_fail(QTestState *who, const char *uri,
-                      const char *channels, const char *fmt, ...);
+                      QObject *channels, const char *fmt, ...);
 
 G_GNUC_PRINTF(5, 6)
 void migrate_qmp(QTestState *who, QTestState *to, const char *uri,
-                 const char *channels, const char *fmt, ...);
+                 QObject *channels, const char *fmt, ...);
 
-G_GNUC_PRINTF(3, 4)
+G_GNUC_PRINTF(4, 5)
 void migrate_incoming_qmp(QTestState *who, const char *uri,
-                          const char *fmt, ...);
+                          QObject *channels, const char *fmt, ...);
 
 void migration_event_wait(QTestState *s, const char *target);
 void migrate_set_capability(QTestState *who, const char *capability,
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/misc-tests.c b/tests/qtest/migration/misc-tests.c
index 6173430..dda3707 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/misc-tests.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/misc-tests.c
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
  */
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/qjson.h"
 #include "libqtest.h"
 #include "migration/framework.h"
 #include "migration/migration-qmp.h"
@@ -205,6 +207,7 @@ static void test_validate_uuid_dst_not_set(void)
 static void do_test_validate_uri_channel(MigrateCommon *args)
 {
     QTestState *from, *to;
+    QObject *channels;
 
     if (migrate_start(&from, &to, args->listen_uri, &args->start)) {
         return;
@@ -217,7 +220,11 @@ static void do_test_validate_uri_channel(MigrateCommon *args)
      * 'uri' and 'channels' validation is checked even before the migration
      * starts.
      */
-    migrate_qmp_fail(from, args->connect_uri, args->connect_channels, "{}");
+    channels = args->connect_channels ?
+               qobject_from_json(args->connect_channels, &error_abort) :
+               NULL;
+    migrate_qmp_fail(from, args->connect_uri, channels, "{}");
+
     migrate_end(from, to, false);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/precopy-tests.c b/tests/qtest/migration/precopy-tests.c
index 23599b2..436dbd9 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/precopy-tests.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/precopy-tests.c
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static void *migrate_hook_start_fd(QTestState *from,
     close(pair[0]);
 
     /* Start incoming migration from the 1st socket */
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "fd:fd-mig", "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "fd:fd-mig", NULL, "{}");
 
     /* Send the 2nd socket to the target */
     qtest_qmp_fds_assert_success(from, &pair[1], 1,
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ static void test_multifd_tcp_cancel(void)
     migrate_set_capability(to, "multifd", true);
 
     /* Start incoming migration from the 1st socket */
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(to, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", NULL, "{}");
 
     /* Wait for the first serial output from the source */
     wait_for_serial("src_serial");
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ static void test_multifd_tcp_cancel(void)
     migrate_set_capability(to2, "multifd", true);
 
     /* Start incoming migration from the 1st socket */
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(to2, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(to2, "tcp:127.0.0.1:0", NULL, "{}");
 
     migrate_ensure_non_converge(from);
 
diff --git a/tests/qtest/virtio-net-failover.c b/tests/qtest/virtio-net-failover.c
index 08365ff..f04573f 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/virtio-net-failover.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/virtio-net-failover.c
@@ -773,7 +773,7 @@ static void test_migrate_in(gconstpointer opaque)
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby0", MAC_STANDBY0);
     check_one_card(qts, false, "primary0", MAC_PRIMARY0);
 
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, NULL, "{}");
 
     resp = get_failover_negociated_event(qts);
     g_assert_cmpstr(qdict_get_str(resp, "device-id"), ==, "standby0");
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ static void test_off_migrate_in(gconstpointer opaque)
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby0", MAC_STANDBY0);
     check_one_card(qts, true, "primary0", MAC_PRIMARY0);
 
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, NULL, "{}");
 
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby0", MAC_STANDBY0);
     check_one_card(qts, true, "primary0", MAC_PRIMARY0);
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ static void test_guest_off_migrate_in(gconstpointer opaque)
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby0", MAC_STANDBY0);
     check_one_card(qts, false, "primary0", MAC_PRIMARY0);
 
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, NULL, "{}");
 
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby0", MAC_STANDBY0);
     check_one_card(qts, false, "primary0", MAC_PRIMARY0);
@@ -1747,7 +1747,7 @@ static void test_multi_in(gconstpointer opaque)
     check_one_card(qts, true, "standby1", MAC_STANDBY1);
     check_one_card(qts, false, "primary1", MAC_PRIMARY1);
 
-    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, "{}");
+    migrate_incoming_qmp(qts, uri, NULL, "{}");
 
     resp = get_failover_negociated_event(qts);
     g_assert_cmpstr(qdict_get_str(resp, "device-id"), ==, "standby0");
