diff --git a/include/block/export.h b/include/block/export.h
index b1d7325403..5424bdc85d 100644
--- a/include/block/export.h
+++ b/include/block/export.h
@@ -29,4 +29,6 @@ struct BlockExport {
 
 extern const BlockExportDriver blk_exp_nbd;
 
+BlockExport *blk_exp_add(BlockExportOptions *export, Error **errp);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/include/block/nbd.h b/include/block/nbd.h
index 50e1a46075..23030db3f1 100644
--- a/include/block/nbd.h
+++ b/include/block/nbd.h
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ void nbd_client_new(QIOChannelSocket *sioc,
 void nbd_client_get(NBDClient *client);
 void nbd_client_put(NBDClient *client);
 
+void nbd_server_is_qemu_nbd(bool value);
 void nbd_server_start(SocketAddress *addr, const char *tls_creds,
                       const char *tls_authz, uint32_t max_connections,
                       Error **errp);
diff --git a/block/export/export.c b/block/export/export.c
index 2d5f92861c..12672228c7 100644
--- a/block/export/export.c
+++ b/block/export/export.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ static const BlockExportDriver *blk_exp_find_driver(BlockExportType type)
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static BlockExport *blk_exp_add(BlockExportOptions *export, Error **errp)
+BlockExport *blk_exp_add(BlockExportOptions *export, Error **errp)
 {
     const BlockExportDriver *drv;
 
diff --git a/blockdev-nbd.c b/blockdev-nbd.c
index d5b084acc2..8dd127af52 100644
--- a/blockdev-nbd.c
+++ b/blockdev-nbd.c
@@ -28,9 +28,15 @@ typedef struct NBDServerData {
 } NBDServerData;
 
 static NBDServerData *nbd_server;
+static bool is_qemu_nbd;
 
 static void nbd_update_server_watch(NBDServerData *s);
 
+void nbd_server_is_qemu_nbd(bool value)
+{
+    is_qemu_nbd = value;
+}
+
 static void nbd_blockdev_client_closed(NBDClient *client, bool ignored)
 {
     nbd_client_put(client);
@@ -176,7 +182,7 @@ BlockExport *nbd_export_create(BlockExportOptions *exp_args, Error **errp)
 
     assert(exp_args->type == BLOCK_EXPORT_TYPE_NBD);
 
-    if (!nbd_server) {
+    if (!nbd_server && !is_qemu_nbd) {
         error_setg(errp, "NBD server not running");
         return NULL;
     }
diff --git a/qemu-nbd.c b/qemu-nbd.c
index 48aa8a9d46..d967b8fcb9 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.c
+++ b/qemu-nbd.c
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@
 
 #define MBR_SIZE 512
 
-static NBDExport *export;
 static int verbose;
 static char *srcpath;
 static SocketAddress *saddr;
@@ -579,6 +578,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     int old_stderr = -1;
     unsigned socket_activation;
     const char *pid_file_name = NULL;
+    BlockExportOptions *export_opts;
 
     /* The client thread uses SIGTERM to interrupt the server.  A signal
      * handler ensures that "qemu-nbd -v -c" exits with a nice status code.
@@ -1050,9 +1050,27 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     bs->detect_zeroes = detect_zeroes;
 
-    export = nbd_export_new(bs, export_name,
-                            export_description, bitmap, readonly, shared > 1,
-                            writethrough, &error_fatal);
+    nbd_server_is_qemu_nbd(true);
+
+    export_opts = g_new(BlockExportOptions, 1);
+    *export_opts = (BlockExportOptions) {
+        .type               = BLOCK_EXPORT_TYPE_NBD,
+        .has_writethrough   = true,
+        .writethrough       = writethrough,
+        .u.nbd = {
+            .device             = g_strdup(bdrv_get_node_name(bs)),
+            .has_name           = true,
+            .name               = g_strdup(export_name),
+            .has_description    = !!export_description,
+            .description        = g_strdup(export_description),
+            .has_writable       = true,
+            .writable           = !readonly,
+            .has_bitmap         = !!bitmap,
+            .bitmap             = g_strdup(bitmap),
+        },
+    };
+    blk_exp_add(export_opts, &error_fatal);
+    qapi_free_BlockExportOptions(export_opts);
 
     if (device) {
 #if HAVE_NBD_DEVICE
@@ -1092,9 +1110,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     do {
         main_loop_wait(false);
         if (state == TERMINATE) {
-            nbd_export_put(export);
             nbd_export_close_all();
-            export = NULL;
             state = TERMINATED;
         }
     } while (state != TERMINATED);
