diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/031 b/tests/qemu-iotests/031
index a3c25ec237..c44fcf91bb 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/031
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/031
@@ -40,19 +40,22 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 # This tests qcow2-specific low-level functionality
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
+# We want to test compat=0.10, which does not support refcount widths
+# other than 16
+_unsupported_imgopts 'refcount_bits=\([^1]\|.\([^6]\|$\)\)'
 
 CLUSTER_SIZE=65536
 
 # qcow2.py output depends on the exact options used, so override the command
 # line here as an exception
-for IMGOPTS in "compat=0.10" "compat=1.1"; do
+for compat in "compat=0.10" "compat=1.1"; do
 
     echo
-    echo ===== Testing with -o $IMGOPTS =====
+    echo ===== Testing with -o $compat =====
     echo
     echo === Create image with unknown header extension ===
     echo
-    _make_test_img 64M
+    _make_test_img -o $compat 64M
     $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" add-header-ext 0x12345678 "This is a test header extension"
     $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header
     _check_test_img
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/039 b/tests/qemu-iotests/039
index 325da63a4c..99563bf126 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/039
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/039
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ size=128M
 echo
 echo "== Checking that image is clean on shutdown =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" $size
 
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 
@@ -62,8 +61,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "== Creating a dirty image file =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" $size
 
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" \
@@ -98,8 +96,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0x5a 0 512" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "== Opening a dirty image read/write should repair it =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" $size
 
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" \
@@ -117,8 +114,7 @@ $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header | grep incompatible_features
 echo
 echo "== Creating an image file with lazy_refcounts=off =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=off"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=off" $size
 
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" \
@@ -132,11 +128,9 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "== Committing to a backing file with lazy_refcounts=on =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
-TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG".base _make_test_img $size
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG".base _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" $size
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on,backing_file=$TEST_IMG.base"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on,backing_file=$TEST_IMG.base" $size
 
 $QEMU_IO -c "write 0 512" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG commit "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -151,8 +145,7 @@ TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG".base _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "== Changing lazy_refcounts setting at runtime =="
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=off"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=off" $size
 
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "reopen -o lazy-refcounts=on" \
@@ -164,8 +157,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "reopen -o lazy-refcounts=on" \
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header | grep incompatible_features
 _check_test_img
 
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" $size
 
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "reopen -o lazy-refcounts=off" \
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/059 b/tests/qemu-iotests/059
index 10bfbaecec..3941c3f0c2 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/059
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/059
@@ -70,18 +70,18 @@ poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$grain_table_size_offset" "\x01\x00\x00\x00"
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing monolithicFlat creation and opening ==="
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicFlat" _make_test_img 2G
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicFlat" 2G
 _img_info
 _cleanup_test_img
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing monolithicFlat with zeroed_grain ==="
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicFlat,zeroed_grain=on" _make_test_img 2G
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicFlat,zeroed_grain=on" 2G
 _cleanup_test_img
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing big twoGbMaxExtentFlat ==="
-IMGOPTS="subformat=twoGbMaxExtentFlat" _make_test_img 1000G
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=twoGbMaxExtentFlat" 1000G
 $QEMU_IMG info $TEST_IMG | _filter_testdir | sed -e 's/cid: [0-9]*/cid: XXXXXXXX/'
 _cleanup_test_img
 
@@ -101,13 +101,13 @@ _img_info
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing truncated sparse ==="
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicSparse" _make_test_img 100G
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicSparse" 100G
 truncate -s 10M $TEST_IMG
 _img_info
 
 echo
 echo "=== Converting to streamOptimized from image with small cluster size==="
-TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.qcow2" IMGFMT=qcow2 IMGOPTS="cluster_size=4096" _make_test_img 1G
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.qcow2" IMGFMT=qcow2 _make_test_img -o "cluster_size=4096" 1G
 $QEMU_IO -f qcow2 -c "write -P 0xa 0 512" "$TEST_IMG.qcow2" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -f qcow2 -c "write -P 0xb 10240 512" "$TEST_IMG.qcow2" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG convert -f qcow2 -O vmdk -o subformat=streamOptimized "$TEST_IMG.qcow2" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ echo "=== Testing monolithicFlat with internally generated JSON file name ==="
 
 echo '--- blkdebug ---'
 # Should work, because bdrv_dirname() works fine with blkdebug
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicFlat" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicFlat" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "open -o driver=$IMGFMT,file.driver=blkdebug,file.image.filename=$TEST_IMG,file.inject-error.0.event=read_aio" \
          -c info \
     2>&1 \
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ _cleanup_test_img
 
 echo '--- quorum ---'
 # Should not work, because bdrv_dirname() does not work with quorum
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicFlat" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicFlat" 64M
 cp "$TEST_IMG" "$TEST_IMG.orig"
 
 filename="json:{
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ _cleanup_test_img
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing 4TB monolithicFlat creation and IO ==="
-IMGOPTS="subformat=monolithicFlat" _make_test_img 4T
+_make_test_img -o "subformat=monolithicFlat" 4T
 _img_info
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0xa 900G 512" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -c "read -v 900G 1024" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ _cleanup_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing qemu-img map on extents ==="
 for fmt in monolithicSparse twoGbMaxExtentSparse; do
-    IMGOPTS="subformat=$fmt" _make_test_img 31G
+    _make_test_img -o "subformat=$fmt" 31G
     $QEMU_IO -c "write 65024 1k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
     $QEMU_IO -c "write 2147483136 1k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
     $QEMU_IO -c "write 5G 1k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/060 b/tests/qemu-iotests/060
index 9c2ef42522..92243c2edd 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/060
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/060
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0k 64k' "$BACKING_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 # compat=0.10 is required in order to make the following discard actually
 # unallocate the sector rather than make it a zero sector - we want COW, after
 # all.
-IMGOPTS='compat=0.10' _make_test_img -b "$BACKING_IMG" 1G
+_make_test_img -o 'compat=0.10' -b "$BACKING_IMG" 1G
 # Write two clusters, the second one enforces creation of an L2 table after
 # the first data cluster.
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0k 64k' -c 'write 512M 64k' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ echo
 echo "=== Discarding a non-covered in-bounds refblock ==="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='refcount_bits=1' _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o 'refcount_bits=1' 64M
 
 # Pretend there's a refblock somewhere where there is no refblock to
 # cover it (but the covering refblock has a valid index in the
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ echo
 echo "=== Discarding a refblock covered by an unaligned refblock ==="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='refcount_bits=1' _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o 'refcount_bits=1' 64M
 
 # Same as above
 poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$(($rt_offset+8))" "\x00\x00\x00\x10\x00\x00\x00\x00"
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/061 b/tests/qemu-iotests/061
index 4eac5b83bd..0480be0141 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/061
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/061
@@ -41,11 +41,14 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+# Conversion between different compat versions can only really work
+# with refcount_bits=16
+_unsupported_imgopts 'refcount_bits=\([^1]\|.\([^6]\|$\)\)'
 
 echo
 echo "=== Testing version downgrade with zero expansion ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing version downgrade with zero expansion and 4K cache entries ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 32M 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -c map "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -72,7 +75,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing dirty version downgrade ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" 64M
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" -c flush \
          -c "sigraise $(kill -l KILL)" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -85,7 +88,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing version downgrade with unknown compat/autoclear flags ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" set-feature-bit compatible 42
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" set-feature-bit autoclear 42
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing version upgrade and resize ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=0.10" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=0.10" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 42M 64k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $PYTHON qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on,size=128M" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -107,7 +110,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing dirty lazy_refcounts=off ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on" 64M
 _NO_VALGRIND \
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" -c flush \
          -c "sigraise $(kill -l KILL)" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -120,8 +123,8 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing backing file ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img 64M
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG.base" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "backing_file=$TEST_IMG.base,backing_fmt=qcow2" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing invalid configurations ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=0.10" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=0.10" 64M
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "lazy_refcounts=on" "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=1.1" "$TEST_IMG" # actually valid
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10,lazy_refcounts=on" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -144,7 +147,7 @@ $QEMU_IMG amend -o "preallocation=on" "$TEST_IMG"
 echo
 echo "=== Testing correct handling of unset value ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,cluster_size=1k" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,cluster_size=1k" 64M
 echo "Should work:"
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "lazy_refcounts=on" "$TEST_IMG"
 echo "Should not work:" # Just to know which of these tests actually fails
@@ -153,7 +156,7 @@ $QEMU_IMG amend -o "cluster_size=64k" "$TEST_IMG"
 echo
 echo "=== Testing zero expansion on inactive clusters ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG snapshot -c foo "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -167,7 +170,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "=== Testing zero expansion on shared L2 table ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG snapshot -c foo "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -180,9 +183,9 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "=== Testing zero expansion on backed image ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 64M
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG.base" | _filter_qemu_io
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0x2a 0 128k" -c "write -z 0 64k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
 _check_test_img
@@ -191,9 +194,9 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 64k" -c "read -P 0x2a 64k 64k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qe
 echo
 echo "=== Testing zero expansion on backed inactive clusters ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 64M
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG.base" | _filter_qemu_io
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 64k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG snapshot -c foo "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x42 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -207,9 +210,9 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 64k" -c "read -P 0x2a 64k 64k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qe
 echo
 echo "=== Testing zero expansion on backed image with shared L2 table ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 64M
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG.base" | _filter_qemu_io
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG snapshot -c foo "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
@@ -222,7 +225,7 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 128k" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "=== Testing preallocated zero expansion on full image ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG" _make_test_img 64M
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x2a 0 64M" "$TEST_IMG" -c "write -z 0 64M" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
 _check_test_img
@@ -231,8 +234,8 @@ $QEMU_IO -c "read -P 0 0 64M" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 echo
 echo "=== Testing progress report without snapshot ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 4G
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 4G
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 4G
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 4G
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0  64k" \
          -c "write -z 1G 64k" \
          -c "write -z 2G 64k" \
@@ -243,8 +246,8 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing progress report with snapshot ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img 4G
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 4G
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 4G
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" -b "$TEST_IMG.base" 4G
 $QEMU_IO -c "write -z 0  64k" \
          -c "write -z 1G 64k" \
          -c "write -z 2G 64k" \
@@ -256,7 +259,7 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Testing version downgrade with external data file ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" 64M
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "compat=0.10" "$TEST_IMG"
 _img_info --format-specific
 _check_test_img
@@ -264,11 +267,11 @@ _check_test_img
 echo
 echo "=== Try changing the external data file ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1" 64M
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "data_file=foo" "$TEST_IMG"
 
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" 64M
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "data_file=foo" "$TEST_IMG"
 _img_info --format-specific
 TEST_IMG="data-file.filename=$TEST_IMG.data,file.filename=$TEST_IMG" _img_info --format-specific --image-opts
@@ -281,7 +284,7 @@ TEST_IMG="data-file.filename=$TEST_IMG.data,file.filename=$TEST_IMG" _img_info -
 echo
 echo "=== Clearing and setting data-file-raw ==="
 echo
-IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,data_file_raw=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=1.1,data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,data_file_raw=on" 64M
 $QEMU_IMG amend -o "data_file_raw=on" "$TEST_IMG"
 _img_info --format-specific
 _check_test_img
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/079 b/tests/qemu-iotests/079
index 81f0c21f53..162355b29a 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/079
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/079
@@ -44,8 +44,7 @@ echo
 cluster_sizes="16384 32768 65536 131072 262144 524288 1048576 2097152 4194304"
 
 for s in $cluster_sizes; do
-    IMGOPTS=$(_optstr_add "$IMGOPTS" "preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=$s") \
-        _make_test_img 4G
+    _make_test_img -o "preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=$s" 4G
 done
 
 # success, all done
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/106 b/tests/qemu-iotests/106
index ac47eaa0f5..b5d1ec4078 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/106
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/106
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ for create_mode in off falloc full; do
         echo
         echo "--- create_mode=$create_mode growth_mode=$growth_mode ---"
 
-        IMGOPTS="preallocation=$create_mode" _make_test_img ${CREATION_SIZE}K
+        _make_test_img -o "preallocation=$create_mode" ${CREATION_SIZE}K
         $QEMU_IMG resize -f "$IMGFMT" --preallocation=$growth_mode "$TEST_IMG" +${GROWTH_SIZE}K
 
         expected_size=0
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/108 b/tests/qemu-iotests/108
index 9c08172237..b0a6ae597b 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/108
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/108
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Repairing unreferenced data cluster in new refblock area ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='cluster_size=512' _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o 'cluster_size=512' 64M
 # Allocate the first 128 kB in the image (first refblock)
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 0x1b200' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 # should be 131072 == 0x20000
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/112 b/tests/qemu-iotests/112
index 706c10b600..6850225939 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/112
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/112
@@ -53,20 +53,20 @@ echo '=== refcount_bits limits ==='
 echo
 
 # Must be positive (non-zero)
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=0" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=0" 64M
 # Must be positive (non-negative)
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=-1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=-1" 64M
 # May not exceed 64
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=128" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=128" 64M
 # Must be a power of two
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=42" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=42" 64M
 
 # 1 is the minimum
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=1" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 # 64 is the maximum
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=64" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=64" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 # 16 is the default
@@ -78,19 +78,19 @@ echo '=== refcount_bits and compat=0.10 ==='
 echo
 
 # Should work
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,compat=0.10,refcount_bits=16" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=0.10,refcount_bits=16" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 # Should not work
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,compat=0.10,refcount_bits=1" _make_test_img 64M
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,compat=0.10,refcount_bits=64" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=0.10,refcount_bits=1" 64M
+_make_test_img -o "compat=0.10,refcount_bits=64" 64M
 
 
 echo
 echo '=== Snapshot limit on refcount_bits=1 ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=1" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Snapshot limit on refcount_bits=2 ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=2" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=2" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Compressed clusters with refcount_bits=1 ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=1" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 # Both should fit into a single host cluster; instead of failing to increase the
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== MSb set in 64 bit refcount ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=64" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=64" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Snapshot on maximum 64 bit refcount value ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=64" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=64" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Testing too many references for check ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=1" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=1" 64M
 print_refcount_bits
 
 # This cluster should be created at 0x50000
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Multiple walks necessary during amend ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=1,cluster_size=512" _make_test_img 64k
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=1,cluster_size=512" 64k
 
 # Cluster 0 is the image header, clusters 1 to 4 are used by the L1 table, a
 # single L2 table, the reftable and a single refblock. This creates 58 data
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/115 b/tests/qemu-iotests/115
index 9ed3cb6a83..d254b18342 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/115
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/115
@@ -64,8 +64,7 @@ echo
 # least 256 MB. We can achieve that by using preallocation=metadata for an image
 # which has a guest disk size of 256 MB.
 
-IMGOPTS="$IMGOPTS,refcount_bits=64,cluster_size=512,preallocation=metadata" \
-    _make_test_img 256M
+_make_test_img -o "refcount_bits=64,cluster_size=512,preallocation=metadata" 256M
 
 # We know for sure that the L1 and refcount tables do not overlap with any other
 # structure because the metadata overlap checks would have caught that case.
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/121 b/tests/qemu-iotests/121
index 90a0424edb..10db813d94 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/121
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/121
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ echo
 # Preallocation speeds up the write operation, but preallocating everything will
 # destroy the purpose of the write; so preallocate one KB less than what would
 # cause a reftable growth...
-IMGOPTS='preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=1k' _make_test_img 64512K
+_make_test_img -o 'preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=1k' 64512K
 # ...and make the image the desired size afterwards.
 $QEMU_IMG resize "$TEST_IMG" 65M
 
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ echo
 echo '--- Test 2 ---'
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=1k' _make_test_img 64513K
+_make_test_img -o 'preallocation=metadata,cluster_size=1k' 64513K
 # This results in an L1 table growth which in turn results in some clusters at
 # the start of the image becoming free
 $QEMU_IMG resize "$TEST_IMG" 65M
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Allocating a new refcount block must not leave holes in the image ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='cluster_size=512,refcount_bits=16' _make_test_img 1M
+_make_test_img -o 'cluster_size=512,refcount_bits=16' 1M
 
 # This results in an image with 256 used clusters: the qcow2 header,
 # the refcount table, one refcount block, the L1 table, four L2 tables
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/125 b/tests/qemu-iotests/125
index 4e31aa4e5f..d510984045 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/125
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/125
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ for GROWTH_SIZE in 16 48 80; do
         for growth_mode in off metadata falloc full; do
             echo "--- cluster_size=$cluster_size growth_size=$GROWTH_SIZE create_mode=$create_mode growth_mode=$growth_mode ---"
 
-            IMGOPTS="preallocation=$create_mode,cluster_size=$cluster_size" _make_test_img ${CREATION_SIZE}
+            _make_test_img -o "preallocation=$create_mode,cluster_size=$cluster_size" ${CREATION_SIZE}
             $QEMU_IMG resize -f "$IMGFMT" --preallocation=$growth_mode "$TEST_IMG" +${GROWTH_SIZE}K
 
             host_size_0=$(get_image_size_on_host)
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/137 b/tests/qemu-iotests/137
index 089821da0c..6cf2997577 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/137
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/137
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ $QEMU_IO \
     -c "reopen -o cache-clean-interval=-1" \
     "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 
-IMGOPTS="cluster_size=256k" _make_test_img 32P
+_make_test_img -o "cluster_size=256k" 32P
 $QEMU_IO \
     -c "reopen -o l2-cache-entry-size=512,l2-cache-size=1T" \
     "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/138 b/tests/qemu-iotests/138
index 6a731370db..66ae9d5e78 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/138
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/138
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ echo
 echo '=== Check on an image with a multiple of 2^32 clusters ==='
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS=$(_optstr_add "$IMGOPTS" "cluster_size=512") \
-    _make_test_img 512
+_make_test_img -o "cluster_size=512" 512
 
 # Allocate L2 table
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/175 b/tests/qemu-iotests/175
index 55db2803ed..020ed8e61f 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/175
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/175
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ stat -c "size=%s, blocks=%b" $TEST_IMG | _filter_blocks $extra_blocks $min_block
 for mode in off full falloc; do
     echo
     echo "== creating image with preallocation $mode =="
-    IMGOPTS=preallocation=$mode _make_test_img $size | _filter_imgfmt
+    _make_test_img -o preallocation=$mode $size | _filter_imgfmt
     stat -c "size=%s, blocks=%b" $TEST_IMG | _filter_blocks $extra_blocks $min_blocks $size
 done
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/190 b/tests/qemu-iotests/190
index eb766ad09f..5890ff9cfc 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/190
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/190
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ _supported_proto file
 echo "== Huge file =="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS='cluster_size=2M' _make_test_img 2T
+_make_test_img -o 'cluster_size=2M' 2T
 
 $QEMU_IMG measure -O raw -f qcow2 "$TEST_IMG"
 $QEMU_IMG measure -O qcow2 -o cluster_size=64k -f qcow2 "$TEST_IMG"
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/191 b/tests/qemu-iotests/191
index 528022e8d8..21c16a32cb 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/191
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/191
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ echo === Preparing and starting VM ===
 echo
 
 TEST_IMG="${TEST_IMG}.base" _make_test_img $size
-IMGOPTS=$(_optstr_add "$IMGOPTS" "backing_fmt=$IMGFMT") \
-    TEST_IMG="${TEST_IMG}.mid" _make_test_img -b "${TEST_IMG}.base"
+TEST_IMG="${TEST_IMG}.mid" _make_test_img -o "backing_fmt=$IMGFMT" -b "${TEST_IMG}.base"
 _make_test_img -b "${TEST_IMG}.mid"
 TEST_IMG="${TEST_IMG}.ovl2" _make_test_img -b "${TEST_IMG}.mid"
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/220 b/tests/qemu-iotests/220
index 2d62c5dcac..3769f372cb 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/220
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/220
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+# To use a different refcount width but 16 bits we need compat=1.1
+_unsupported_imgopts 'compat=0.10'
 
 echo "== Creating huge file =="
 
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ if ! truncate --size=513T "$TEST_IMG"; then
     _notrun "file system on $TEST_DIR does not support large enough files"
 fi
 rm "$TEST_IMG"
-IMGOPTS='cluster_size=2M,refcount_bits=1' _make_test_img 513T
+_make_test_img -o 'cluster_size=2M,refcount_bits=1' 513T
 
 echo "== Populating refcounts =="
 # We want an image with 256M refcounts * 2M clusters = 512T referenced.
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/243 b/tests/qemu-iotests/243
index e563761307..2b84b896db 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/243
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/243
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+# External data files do not work with compat=0.10
+_unsupported_imgopts 'compat=0.10'
 
 for mode in off metadata falloc full; do
 
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ for mode in off metadata falloc full; do
     echo "=== preallocation=$mode ==="
     echo
 
-    IMGOPTS="preallocation=$mode" _make_test_img 64M
+    _make_test_img -o "preallocation=$mode" 64M
 
     printf "File size: "
     du -b $TEST_IMG | cut -f1
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ for mode in off metadata falloc full; do
     echo "=== External data file: preallocation=$mode ==="
     echo
 
-    IMGOPTS="data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,preallocation=$mode" _make_test_img 64M
+    _make_test_img -o "data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,preallocation=$mode" 64M
 
     echo -n "qcow2 file size: "
     du -b $TEST_IMG | cut -f1
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/244 b/tests/qemu-iotests/244
index 13978f93d2..0375bc12d4 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/244
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/244
@@ -41,13 +41,15 @@ trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 _supported_fmt qcow2
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
+# External data files do not work with compat=0.10
+_unsupported_imgopts 'compat=0.10'
 
 echo
 echo "=== Create and open image with external data file ==="
 echo
 
 echo "With data file name in the image:"
-IMGOPTS="data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" 64M
 _check_test_img
 
 $QEMU_IO -c "open $TEST_IMG" -c "read -P 0 0 64k" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ echo
 echo "=== Standalone image with external data file (efficient) ==="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" 64M
 
 echo -n "qcow2 file size before I/O: "
 du -b $TEST_IMG | cut -f1
@@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ echo
 echo "=== Standalone image with external data file (valid raw) ==="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,data_file_raw=on" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "data_file=$TEST_IMG.data,data_file_raw=on" 64M
 
 echo -n "qcow2 file size before I/O: "
 du -b $TEST_IMG | cut -f1
@@ -187,7 +189,7 @@ echo
 echo "=== bdrv_co_block_status test for file and offset=0 ==="
 echo
 
-IMGOPTS="data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" _make_test_img 64M
+_make_test_img -o "data_file=$TEST_IMG.data" 64M
 
 $QEMU_IO -c 'write -P 0x11 0 1M' -f $IMGFMT "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 $QEMU_IO -c 'read -P 0x11 0 1M' -f $IMGFMT "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/250 b/tests/qemu-iotests/250
index c9c0a84a5a..670cf19076 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/250
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/250
@@ -55,9 +55,8 @@ disk_usage()
 }
 
 size=2100M
-IMGOPTS="cluster_size=1M,preallocation=metadata"
 
-_make_test_img $size
+_make_test_img -o "cluster_size=1M,preallocation=metadata" $size
 $QEMU_IO -c 'discard 0 10M' -c 'discard 2090M 10M' \
          -c 'write 2090M 10M' -c 'write 0 10M' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/265 b/tests/qemu-iotests/265
index dce6f77be3..00f2ec769e 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/265
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/265
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ _supported_os Linux
 echo '--- Writing to the image ---'
 
 # Reduce cluster size so we get more and quicker I/O
-IMGOPTS='cluster_size=4096' _make_test_img 1M
+_make_test_img -o 'cluster_size=4096' 1M
 (for ((kb = 1024 - 4; kb >= 0; kb -= 4)); do \
      echo "aio_write -P 42 $((kb + 1))k 2k"; \
  done) \
