diff --git a/qemu-img-cmds.hx b/qemu-img-cmds.hx
index f054599..18685ac 100644
--- a/qemu-img-cmds.hx
+++ b/qemu-img-cmds.hx
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ STEXI
 ETEXI
 
 DEF("dd", img_dd,
-    "dd [--image-opts] [-f fmt] [-O output_fmt] [bs=block_size] [count=blocks] [skip=blocks] if=input of=output")
+    "dd [--image-opts] [-f fmt] [-O output_fmt] [bs=block_size] [count=blocks] [skip=blocks] [conv=notrunc] if=input of=output")
 STEXI
-@item dd [--image-opts] [-f @var{fmt}] [-O @var{output_fmt}] [bs=@var{block_size}] [count=@var{blocks}] [skip=@var{blocks}] if=@var{input} of=@var{output}
+@item dd [--image-opts] [-f @var{fmt}] [-O @var{output_fmt}] [bs=@var{block_size}] [count=@var{blocks}] [skip=@var{blocks}] [conv=notrunc] if=@var{input} of=@var{output}
 ETEXI
 
 DEF("info", img_info,
diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 3adec86..7c546c1 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ static void QEMU_NORETURN help(void)
            "  'count=N' copy only N input blocks\n"
            "  'if=FILE' read from FILE\n"
            "  'of=FILE' write to FILE\n"
-           "  'skip=N' skip N bs-sized blocks at the start of input\n";
+           "  'skip=N' skip N bs-sized blocks at the start of input\n"
+           "  'conv=notrunc' do not truncate the output file\n";
 
     printf("%s\nSupported formats:", help_msg);
     bdrv_iterate_format(format_print, NULL);
@@ -3807,10 +3808,12 @@ out:
 #define C_IF      04
 #define C_OF      010
 #define C_SKIP    020
+#define C_CONV    040
 
 struct DdInfo {
     unsigned int flags;
     int64_t count;
+    unsigned int conv;
 };
 
 struct DdIo {
@@ -3894,6 +3897,21 @@ static int img_dd_skip(const char *arg,
     return 0;
 }
 
+#define C_NOTRUNC 01
+
+static int img_dd_conv(const char *arg,
+                       struct DdIo *in, struct DdIo *out,
+                       struct DdInfo *dd)
+{
+    if (!strcmp(arg, "notrunc")) {
+        dd->conv |= C_NOTRUNC;
+        return 0;
+    } else {
+        error_report("invalid conversion: '%s'", arg);
+        return 1;
+    }
+}
+
 static int img_dd(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int ret = 0;
@@ -3913,6 +3931,7 @@ static int img_dd(int argc, char **argv)
     struct DdInfo dd = {
         .flags = 0,
         .count = 0,
+        .conv = 0
     };
     struct DdIo in = {
         .bsz = 512, /* Block size is by default 512 bytes */
@@ -3933,6 +3952,7 @@ static int img_dd(int argc, char **argv)
         { "if", img_dd_if, C_IF },
         { "of", img_dd_of, C_OF },
         { "skip", img_dd_skip, C_SKIP },
+        { "conv", img_dd_conv, C_CONV },
         { NULL, NULL, 0 }
     };
     const struct option long_options[] = {
@@ -3997,6 +4017,14 @@ static int img_dd(int argc, char **argv)
         g_free(arg);
         arg = NULL;
     }
+    if (!(dd.conv & C_NOTRUNC)) {
+        /* We make conv=notrunc mandatory for the moment to avoid accidental
+           destruction of the output image. Needs to be changed when a better
+           solution is found */
+        error_report("conv=notrunc not specified");
+        ret = -1;
+        goto out;
+    }
 
     if (!(dd.flags & C_IF && dd.flags & C_OF)) {
         error_report("Must specify both input and output files");
diff --git a/qemu-img.texi b/qemu-img.texi
index 174aae3..002dde2 100644
--- a/qemu-img.texi
+++ b/qemu-img.texi
@@ -150,9 +150,12 @@ sets the number of input blocks to copy
 @item if=@var{input}
 sets the input file
 @item of=@var{output}
-sets the output file
+sets the output file. dd truncates the output file to zero if 'conv=notrunc'
+is not specified.
 @item skip=@var{blocks}
 sets the number of input blocks to skip
+@item conv=notrunc
+makes dd not truncate output file to zero
 @end table
 
 Command description:
@@ -326,7 +329,7 @@ skipped. This is useful for formats such as @code{rbd} if the target
 volume has already been created with site specific options that cannot
 be supplied through qemu-img.
 
-@item dd [-f @var{fmt}] [-O @var{output_fmt}] [bs=@var{block_size}] [count=@var{blocks}] [skip=@var{blocks}] if=@var{input} of=@var{output}
+@item dd [-f @var{fmt}] [-O @var{output_fmt}] [bs=@var{block_size}] [count=@var{blocks}] [skip=@var{blocks}] [conv=notrunc] if=@var{input} of=@var{output}
 
 Dd copies from @var{input} file to @var{output} file converting it from
 @var{fmt} format to @var{output_fmt} format.
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/158 b/tests/qemu-iotests/158
index 5b335db..63e2a10 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/158
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/158
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0xa 0 $size" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "== Converting the image with dd =="
 
-$QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" -O "$IMGFMT"
+$QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" conv=notrunc -O "$IMGFMT"
 TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.out" _check_test_img
 
 echo
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/159 b/tests/qemu-iotests/159
index 825f05f..d68a19f 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/159
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/159
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ for bs in $TEST_SIZES; do
     echo
     echo "== Converting the image with dd with a block size of $bs =="
 
-    $QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" bs=$bs -O "$IMGFMT"
+    $QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" bs=$bs conv=notrunc \
+        -O "$IMGFMT"
     TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.out" _check_test_img
 
     echo
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/160 b/tests/qemu-iotests/160
index 5c910e5..53b3c30 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/160
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/160
@@ -55,10 +55,11 @@ for skip in $TEST_SKIP_BLOCKS; do
     echo
     echo "== Converting the image with dd with skip=$skip =="
 
-    $QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" skip="$skip" -O "$IMGFMT" \
-        2> /dev/null
+    $QEMU_IMG dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out" skip="$skip" conv=notrunc  \
+        -O "$IMGFMT" 2> /dev/null
     TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.out" _check_test_img
-    dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out.dd" skip="$skip" status=none
+    dd if="$TEST_IMG" of="$TEST_IMG.out.dd" skip="$skip" conv=notrunc \
+        status=none
 
     echo
     echo "== Compare the images with qemu-img compare =="
