diff --git a/block/blkdebug.c b/block/blkdebug.c
index c5d4772..f69e136 100644
--- a/block/blkdebug.c
+++ b/block/blkdebug.c
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ static void blkdebug_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     if (!strstart(filename, "blkdebug:", &filename)) {
         /* There was no prefix; therefore, all options have to be already
            present in the QDict (except for the filename) */
-        qdict_put(options, "x-image", qstring_from_str(filename));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "x-image", filename);
         return;
     }

@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ static void blkdebug_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,

     /* TODO Allow multi-level nesting and set file.filename here */
     filename = c + 1;
-    qdict_put(options, "x-image", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "x-image", filename);
 }

 static QemuOptsList runtime_opts = {
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ static void blkdebug_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
     }

     opts = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str("blkdebug"));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", "blkdebug");

     QINCREF(bs->file->bs->full_open_options);
     qdict_put(opts, "image", bs->file->bs->full_open_options);
diff --git a/block/blkverify.c b/block/blkverify.c
index 79c8914..5c7d506 100644
--- a/block/blkverify.c
+++ b/block/blkverify.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ static void blkverify_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     if (!strstart(filename, "blkverify:", &filename)) {
         /* There was no prefix; therefore, all options have to be already
            present in the QDict (except for the filename) */
-        qdict_put(options, "x-image", qstring_from_str(filename));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "x-image", filename);
         return;
     }

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ static void blkverify_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,

     /* TODO Allow multi-level nesting and set file.filename here */
     filename = c + 1;
-    qdict_put(options, "x-image", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "x-image", filename);
 }

 static QemuOptsList runtime_opts = {
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ static void blkverify_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
         && s->test_file->bs->full_open_options)
     {
         QDict *opts = qdict_new();
-        qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str("blkverify"));
+        qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", "blkverify");

         QINCREF(bs->file->bs->full_open_options);
         qdict_put(opts, "raw", bs->file->bs->full_open_options);
diff --git a/block/curl.c b/block/curl.c
index 2708d57..aa6e8cc 100644
--- a/block/curl.c
+++ b/block/curl.c
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ static void curl_clean_state(CURLState *s)
 static void curl_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
                                 Error **errp)
 {
-    qdict_put(options, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL, qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL, filename);
 }

 static void curl_detach_aio_context(BlockDriverState *bs)
diff --git a/block/file-posix.c b/block/file-posix.c
index 5370ba0..9431ad1 100644
--- a/block/file-posix.c
+++ b/block/file-posix.c
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ static void raw_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
      * function call can be ignored. */
     strstart(filename, "file:", &filename);

-    qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "filename", filename);
 }

 static QemuOptsList raw_runtime_opts = {
@@ -2150,7 +2150,7 @@ static void hdev_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     /* The prefix is optional, just as for "file". */
     strstart(filename, "host_device:", &filename);

-    qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "filename", filename);
 }

 static bool hdev_is_sg(BlockDriverState *bs)
@@ -2239,7 +2239,7 @@ static int hdev_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
             goto hdev_open_Mac_error;
         }

-        qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(bsd_path));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "filename", bsd_path);

 hdev_open_Mac_error:
         g_free(mediaType);
@@ -2449,7 +2449,7 @@ static void cdrom_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     /* The prefix is optional, just as for "file". */
     strstart(filename, "host_cdrom:", &filename);

-    qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "filename", filename);
 }
 #endif

diff --git a/block/file-win32.c b/block/file-win32.c
index 57c4a78..0d455d1 100644
--- a/block/file-win32.c
+++ b/block/file-win32.c
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ static void raw_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
      * function call can be ignored. */
     strstart(filename, "file:", &filename);

-    qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "filename", filename);
 }

 static QemuOptsList raw_runtime_opts = {
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ static void hdev_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     /* The prefix is optional, just as for "file". */
     strstart(filename, "host_device:", &filename);

-    qdict_put(options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "filename", filename);
 }

 static int hdev_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
diff --git a/block/iscsi.c b/block/iscsi.c
index 716e74a..1534ab6 100644
--- a/block/iscsi.c
+++ b/block/iscsi.c
@@ -2102,7 +2102,7 @@ static int iscsi_create(const char *filename, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     iscsilun = bs->opaque;

     bs_options = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(bs_options, "filename", qstring_from_str(filename));
+    qdict_put_str(bs_options, "filename", filename);
     ret = iscsi_open(bs, bs_options, 0, NULL);
     QDECREF(bs_options);

diff --git a/block/nbd.c b/block/nbd.c
index 814ab26d..b3545f5 100644
--- a/block/nbd.c
+++ b/block/nbd.c
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ static int nbd_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options)
     p = uri->path ? uri->path : "/";
     p += strspn(p, "/");
     if (p[0]) {
-        qdict_put(options, "export", qstring_from_str(p));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "export", p);
     }

     qp = query_params_parse(uri->query);
@@ -94,9 +94,8 @@ static int nbd_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options)
             ret = -EINVAL;
             goto out;
         }
-        qdict_put(options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("unix"));
-        qdict_put(options, "server.path",
-                  qstring_from_str(qp->p[0].value));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.type", "unix");
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.path", qp->p[0].value);
     } else {
         QString *host;
         char *port_str;
@@ -115,11 +114,11 @@ static int nbd_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options)
             host = qstring_from_str(uri->server);
         }

-        qdict_put(options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("inet"));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.type", "inet");
         qdict_put(options, "server.host", host);

         port_str = g_strdup_printf("%d", uri->port ?: NBD_DEFAULT_PORT);
-        qdict_put(options, "server.port", qstring_from_str(port_str));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.port", port_str);
         g_free(port_str);
     }

@@ -181,7 +180,7 @@ static void nbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
         export_name[0] = 0; /* truncate 'file' */
         export_name += strlen(EN_OPTSTR);

-        qdict_put(options, "export", qstring_from_str(export_name));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "export", export_name);
     }

     /* extract the host_spec - fail if it's not nbd:... */
@@ -196,8 +195,8 @@ static void nbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,

     /* are we a UNIX or TCP socket? */
     if (strstart(host_spec, "unix:", &unixpath)) {
-        qdict_put(options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("unix"));
-        qdict_put(options, "server.path", qstring_from_str(unixpath));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.type", "unix");
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.path", unixpath);
     } else {
         InetSocketAddress *addr = NULL;

@@ -206,9 +205,9 @@ static void nbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
             goto out;
         }

-        qdict_put(options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("inet"));
-        qdict_put(options, "server.host", qstring_from_str(addr->host));
-        qdict_put(options, "server.port", qstring_from_str(addr->port));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.type", "inet");
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.host", addr->host);
+        qdict_put_str(options, "server.port", addr->port);
         qapi_free_InetSocketAddress(addr);
     }

@@ -247,13 +246,13 @@ static bool nbd_process_legacy_socket_options(QDict *output_options,
             return false;
         }

-        qdict_put(output_options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("unix"));
-        qdict_put(output_options, "server.path", qstring_from_str(path));
+        qdict_put_str(output_options, "server.type", "unix");
+        qdict_put_str(output_options, "server.path", path);
     } else if (host) {
-        qdict_put(output_options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("inet"));
-        qdict_put(output_options, "server.host", qstring_from_str(host));
-        qdict_put(output_options, "server.port",
-                  qstring_from_str(port ?: stringify(NBD_DEFAULT_PORT)));
+        qdict_put_str(output_options, "server.type", "inet");
+        qdict_put_str(output_options, "server.host", host);
+        qdict_put_str(output_options, "server.port",
+                      port ?: stringify(NBD_DEFAULT_PORT));
     }

     return true;
@@ -528,7 +527,7 @@ static void nbd_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
         path = s->saddr->u.q_unix.path;
     } /* else can't represent as pseudo-filename */

-    qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str("nbd"));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", "nbd");

     if (path && s->export) {
         snprintf(bs->exact_filename, sizeof(bs->exact_filename),
@@ -551,10 +550,10 @@ static void nbd_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
     qdict_put_obj(opts, "server", saddr_qdict);

     if (s->export) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "export", qstring_from_str(s->export));
+        qdict_put_str(opts, "export", s->export);
     }
     if (s->tlscredsid) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "tls-creds", qstring_from_str(s->tlscredsid));
+        qdict_put_str(opts, "tls-creds", s->tlscredsid);
     }

     qdict_flatten(opts);
diff --git a/block/nfs.c b/block/nfs.c
index 0816678..bfeebc1 100644
--- a/block/nfs.c
+++ b/block/nfs.c
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ static int nfs_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options, Error **errp)
         goto out;
     }

-    qdict_put(options, "server.host", qstring_from_str(uri->server));
-    qdict_put(options, "server.type", qstring_from_str("inet"));
-    qdict_put(options, "path", qstring_from_str(uri->path));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "server.host", uri->server);
+    qdict_put_str(options, "server.type", "inet");
+    qdict_put_str(options, "path", uri->path);

     for (i = 0; i < qp->n; i++) {
         unsigned long long val;
@@ -121,23 +121,17 @@ static int nfs_parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options, Error **errp)
             goto out;
         }
         if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "uid")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "user",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "user", qp->p[i].value);
         } else if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "gid")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "group",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "group", qp->p[i].value);
         } else if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "tcp-syncnt")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "tcp-syn-count",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "tcp-syn-count", qp->p[i].value);
         } else if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "readahead")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "readahead-size",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "readahead-size", qp->p[i].value);
         } else if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "pagecache")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "page-cache-size",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "page-cache-size", qp->p[i].value);
         } else if (!strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "debug")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "debug",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "debug", qp->p[i].value);
         } else {
             error_setg(errp, "Unknown NFS parameter name: %s",
                        qp->p[i].name);
@@ -811,7 +805,7 @@ static void nfs_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
     QObject *server_qdict;
     Visitor *ov;

-    qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str("nfs"));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", "nfs");

     if (client->uid && !client->gid) {
         snprintf(bs->exact_filename, sizeof(bs->exact_filename),
@@ -834,28 +828,25 @@ static void nfs_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
     visit_type_NFSServer(ov, NULL, &client->server, &error_abort);
     visit_complete(ov, &server_qdict);
     qdict_put_obj(opts, "server", server_qdict);
-    qdict_put(opts, "path", qstring_from_str(client->path));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "path", client->path);

     if (client->uid) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "user", qint_from_int(client->uid));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "user", client->uid);
     }
     if (client->gid) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "group", qint_from_int(client->gid));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "group", client->gid);
     }
     if (client->tcp_syncnt) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "tcp-syn-cnt",
-                  qint_from_int(client->tcp_syncnt));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "tcp-syn-cnt", client->tcp_syncnt);
     }
     if (client->readahead) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "readahead-size",
-                  qint_from_int(client->readahead));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "readahead-size", client->readahead);
     }
     if (client->pagecache) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "page-cache-size",
-                  qint_from_int(client->pagecache));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "page-cache-size", client->pagecache);
     }
     if (client->debug) {
-        qdict_put(opts, "debug", qint_from_int(client->debug));
+        qdict_put_int(opts, "debug", client->debug);
     }

     visit_free(ov);
diff --git a/block/null.c b/block/null.c
index b300390..876f909 100644
--- a/block/null.c
+++ b/block/null.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ static void null_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *opts)
                  bs->drv->format_name);
     }

-    qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str(bs->drv->format_name));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", bs->drv->format_name);
     bs->full_open_options = opts;
 }

diff --git a/block/qcow2.c b/block/qcow2.c
index 6a92d2e..49c737f 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.c
+++ b/block/qcow2.c
@@ -2265,7 +2265,7 @@ static int qcow2_create2(const char *filename, int64_t total_size,
      * table)
      */
     options = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(options, "driver", qstring_from_str("qcow2"));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "driver", "qcow2");
     blk = blk_new_open(filename, NULL, options,
                        BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_RESIZE | BDRV_O_NO_FLUSH,
                        &local_err);
@@ -2327,7 +2327,7 @@ static int qcow2_create2(const char *filename, int64_t total_size,

     /* Reopen the image without BDRV_O_NO_FLUSH to flush it before returning */
     options = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(options, "driver", qstring_from_str("qcow2"));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "driver", "qcow2");
     blk = blk_new_open(filename, NULL, options,
                        BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_NO_BACKING, &local_err);
     if (blk == NULL) {
diff --git a/block/quorum.c b/block/quorum.c
index f7949e2..1b2a8c3 100644
--- a/block/quorum.c
+++ b/block/quorum.c
@@ -1100,10 +1100,10 @@ static void quorum_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options)
     }

     opts = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(opts, "driver", qstring_from_str("quorum"));
-    qdict_put(opts, QUORUM_OPT_VOTE_THRESHOLD, qint_from_int(s->threshold));
-    qdict_put(opts, QUORUM_OPT_BLKVERIFY, qbool_from_bool(s->is_blkverify));
-    qdict_put(opts, QUORUM_OPT_REWRITE, qbool_from_bool(s->rewrite_corrupted));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "driver", "quorum");
+    qdict_put_int(opts, QUORUM_OPT_VOTE_THRESHOLD, s->threshold);
+    qdict_put_bool(opts, QUORUM_OPT_BLKVERIFY, s->is_blkverify);
+    qdict_put_bool(opts, QUORUM_OPT_REWRITE, s->rewrite_corrupted);
     qdict_put(opts, "children", children);

     bs->full_open_options = opts;
diff --git a/block/rbd.c b/block/rbd.c
index 1ceeeb5..2354ffc 100644
--- a/block/rbd.c
+++ b/block/rbd.c
@@ -154,20 +154,20 @@ static void qemu_rbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
         goto done;
     }
     qemu_rbd_unescape(found_str);
-    qdict_put(options, "pool", qstring_from_str(found_str));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "pool", found_str);

     if (strchr(p, '@')) {
         found_str = qemu_rbd_next_tok(p, '@', &p);
         qemu_rbd_unescape(found_str);
-        qdict_put(options, "image", qstring_from_str(found_str));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "image", found_str);

         found_str = qemu_rbd_next_tok(p, ':', &p);
         qemu_rbd_unescape(found_str);
-        qdict_put(options, "snapshot", qstring_from_str(found_str));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "snapshot", found_str);
     } else {
         found_str = qemu_rbd_next_tok(p, ':', &p);
         qemu_rbd_unescape(found_str);
-        qdict_put(options, "image", qstring_from_str(found_str));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "image", found_str);
     }
     if (!p) {
         goto done;
@@ -189,9 +189,9 @@ static void qemu_rbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
         qemu_rbd_unescape(value);

         if (!strcmp(name, "conf")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "conf", qstring_from_str(value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "conf", value);
         } else if (!strcmp(name, "id")) {
-            qdict_put(options, "user" , qstring_from_str(value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "user", value);
         } else {
             /*
              * We pass these internally to qemu_rbd_set_keypairs(), so
@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ static void qemu_rbd_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
             if (!keypairs) {
                 keypairs = qlist_new();
             }
-            qlist_append(keypairs, qstring_from_str(name));
-            qlist_append(keypairs, qstring_from_str(value));
+            qlist_append_str(keypairs, name);
+            qlist_append_str(keypairs, value);
         }
     }

diff --git a/block/ssh.c b/block/ssh.c
index 471ba8a..34a2f79 100644
--- a/block/ssh.c
+++ b/block/ssh.c
@@ -227,24 +227,23 @@ static int parse_uri(const char *filename, QDict *options, Error **errp)
     }

     if(uri->user && strcmp(uri->user, "") != 0) {
-        qdict_put(options, "user", qstring_from_str(uri->user));
+        qdict_put_str(options, "user", uri->user);
     }

-    qdict_put(options, "server.host", qstring_from_str(uri->server));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "server.host", uri->server);

     port_str = g_strdup_printf("%d", uri->port ?: 22);
-    qdict_put(options, "server.port", qstring_from_str(port_str));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "server.port", port_str);
     g_free(port_str);

-    qdict_put(options, "path", qstring_from_str(uri->path));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "path", uri->path);

     /* Pick out any query parameters that we understand, and ignore
      * the rest.
      */
     for (i = 0; i < qp->n; ++i) {
         if (strcmp(qp->p[i].name, "host_key_check") == 0) {
-            qdict_put(options, "host_key_check",
-                      qstring_from_str(qp->p[i].value));
+            qdict_put_str(options, "host_key_check", qp->p[i].value);
         }
     }

@@ -574,9 +573,8 @@ static bool ssh_process_legacy_socket_options(QDict *output_opts,
     }

     if (host) {
-        qdict_put(output_opts, "server.host", qstring_from_str(host));
-        qdict_put(output_opts, "server.port",
-                  qstring_from_str(port ?: stringify(22)));
+        qdict_put_str(output_opts, "server.host", host);
+        qdict_put_str(output_opts, "server.port", port ?: stringify(22));
     }

     return true;
diff --git a/block/vvfat.c b/block/vvfat.c
index af5153d..8b4e4eb 100644
--- a/block/vvfat.c
+++ b/block/vvfat.c
@@ -1057,10 +1057,10 @@ static void vvfat_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
     }

     /* Fill in the options QDict */
-    qdict_put(options, "dir", qstring_from_str(filename));
-    qdict_put(options, "fat-type", qint_from_int(fat_type));
-    qdict_put(options, "floppy", qbool_from_bool(floppy));
-    qdict_put(options, "rw", qbool_from_bool(rw));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "dir", filename);
+    qdict_put_int(options, "fat-type", fat_type);
+    qdict_put_bool(options, "floppy", floppy);
+    qdict_put_bool(options, "rw", rw);
 }

 static int vvfat_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
@@ -3040,7 +3040,7 @@ static int enable_write_target(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
     }

     options = qdict_new();
-    qdict_put(options, "write-target.driver", qstring_from_str("qcow"));
+    qdict_put_str(options, "write-target.driver", "qcow");
     s->qcow = bdrv_open_child(s->qcow_filename, options, "write-target", bs,
                               &child_vvfat_qcow, false, errp);
     QDECREF(options);
