diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 846b81e3ec..94834b7876 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ S: Supported
 F: include/system/kvm_xen.h
 F: target/i386/kvm/xen*
 F: hw/i386/kvm/xen*
-F: tests/avocado/kvm_xen_guest.py
+F: tests/functional/test_x86_64_kvm_xen.py
 
 Guest CPU Cores (other accelerators)
 ------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/functional/meson.build b/tests/functional/meson.build
index cf80924ddc..b7719ab85f 100644
--- a/tests/functional/meson.build
+++ b/tests/functional/meson.build
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ test_timeouts = {
   'riscv64_tuxrun' : 120,
   's390x_ccw_virtio' : 420,
   'sh4_tuxrun' : 240,
+  'x86_64_kvm_xen' : 180,
 }
 
 tests_generic_system = [
@@ -244,6 +245,7 @@ tests_x86_64_system_thorough = [
   'netdev_ethtool',
   'virtio_gpu',
   'x86_64_hotplug_cpu',
+  'x86_64_kvm_xen',
   'x86_64_tuxrun',
 ]
 
diff --git a/tests/avocado/kvm_xen_guest.py b/tests/functional/test_x86_64_kvm_xen.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
similarity index 61%
rename from tests/avocado/kvm_xen_guest.py
rename to tests/functional/test_x86_64_kvm_xen.py
index f8cb458d5d..0298c96c2e
--- a/tests/avocado/kvm_xen_guest.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_x86_64_kvm_xen.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#
 # KVM Xen guest functional tests
 #
 # Copyright © 2021 Red Hat, Inc.
@@ -13,19 +15,12 @@
 
 from qemu.machine import machine
 
-from avocado_qemu import LinuxSSHMixIn
-from avocado_qemu import QemuSystemTest
-from avocado_qemu import wait_for_console_pattern
+from qemu_test import QemuSystemTest, Asset, exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern
+from qemu_test import wait_for_console_pattern
 
-class KVMXenGuest(QemuSystemTest, LinuxSSHMixIn):
-    """
-    :avocado: tags=arch:x86_64
-    :avocado: tags=machine:q35
-    :avocado: tags=accel:kvm
-    :avocado: tags=kvm_xen_guest
-    """
+class KVMXenGuest(QemuSystemTest):
 
-    KERNEL_DEFAULT = 'printk.time=0 root=/dev/xvda console=ttyS0'
+    KERNEL_DEFAULT = 'printk.time=0 root=/dev/xvda console=ttyS0 quiet'
 
     kernel_path = None
     kernel_params = None
@@ -33,14 +28,15 @@ class KVMXenGuest(QemuSystemTest, LinuxSSHMixIn):
     # Fetch assets from the kvm-xen-guest subdir of my shared test
     # images directory on fileserver.linaro.org where you can find
     # build instructions for how they where assembled.
-    def get_asset(self, name, sha1):
-        base_url = ('https://fileserver.linaro.org/s/'
-                    'kE4nCFLdQcoBF9t/download?'
-                    'path=%2Fkvm-xen-guest&files=' )
-        url = base_url + name
-        # use explicit name rather than failing to neatly parse the
-        # URL into a unique one
-        return self.fetch_asset(name=name, locations=(url), asset_hash=sha1)
+    ASSET_KERNEL = Asset(
+        ('https://fileserver.linaro.org/s/kE4nCFLdQcoBF9t/download?'
+         'path=%2Fkvm-xen-guest&files=bzImage'),
+        'ec0ad7bb8c33c5982baee0a75505fe7dbf29d3ff5d44258204d6307c6fe0132a')
+
+    ASSET_ROOTFS = Asset(
+        ('https://fileserver.linaro.org/s/kE4nCFLdQcoBF9t/download?'
+         'path=%2Fkvm-xen-guest&files=rootfs.ext4'),
+        'b11045d649006c649c184e93339aaa41a8fe20a1a86620af70323252eb29e40b')
 
     def common_vm_setup(self):
         # We also catch lack of KVM_XEN support if we fail to launch
@@ -51,10 +47,8 @@ def common_vm_setup(self):
         self.vm.add_args("-accel", "kvm,xen-version=0x4000a,kernel-irqchip=split")
         self.vm.add_args("-smp", "2")
 
-        self.kernel_path = self.get_asset("bzImage",
-                                          "367962983d0d32109998a70b45dcee4672d0b045")
-        self.rootfs = self.get_asset("rootfs.ext4",
-                                     "f1478401ea4b3fa2ea196396be44315bab2bb5e4")
+        self.kernel_path = self.ASSET_KERNEL.fetch()
+        self.rootfs = self.ASSET_ROOTFS.fetch()
 
     def run_and_check(self):
         self.vm.add_args('-kernel', self.kernel_path,
@@ -68,10 +62,10 @@ def run_and_check(self):
             self.vm.launch()
         except machine.VMLaunchFailure as e:
             if "Xen HVM guest support not present" in e.output:
-                self.cancel("KVM Xen support is not present "
-                            "(need v5.12+ kernel with CONFIG_KVM_XEN)")
+                self.skipTest("KVM Xen support is not present "
+                              "(need v5.12+ kernel with CONFIG_KVM_XEN)")
             elif "Property 'kvm-accel.xen-version' not found" in e.output:
-                self.cancel("QEMU not built with CONFIG_XEN_EMU support")
+                self.skipTest("QEMU not built with CONFIG_XEN_EMU support")
             else:
                 raise e
 
@@ -79,10 +73,11 @@ def run_and_check(self):
         console_pattern = 'Starting dropbear sshd: OK'
         wait_for_console_pattern(self, console_pattern, 'Oops')
         self.log.info('sshd ready')
-        self.ssh_connect('root', '', False)
 
-        self.ssh_command('cat /proc/cmdline')
-        self.ssh_command('dmesg | grep -e "Grant table initialized"')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'cat /proc/cmdline', 'xen')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'dmesg | grep "Grant table"',
+                                          'Grant table initialized')
+        wait_for_console_pattern(self, '#', 'Oops')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest(self):
         """
@@ -94,7 +89,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest(self):
         self.kernel_params = (self.KERNEL_DEFAULT +
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-pirq.*msi /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-pirq.*msi /proc/interrupts',
+                                'virtio0-output')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_nomsi(self):
         """
@@ -106,7 +103,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_nomsi(self):
         self.kernel_params = (self.KERNEL_DEFAULT +
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks pci=nomsi')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-pirq.* /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-pirq.* /proc/interrupts',
+                                'virtio0')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_noapic_nomsi(self):
         """
@@ -118,7 +117,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_noapic_nomsi(self):
         self.kernel_params = (self.KERNEL_DEFAULT +
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks noapic pci=nomsi')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-pirq /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-pirq /proc/interrupts',
+                                'virtio0')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_vapic(self):
         """
@@ -130,8 +131,13 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_vapic(self):
         self.kernel_params = (self.KERNEL_DEFAULT +
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-pirq /proc/interrupts')
-        self.ssh_command('grep PCI-MSI /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-pirq /proc/interrupts',
+                                'acpi')
+        wait_for_console_pattern(self, '#')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep PCI-MSI /proc/interrupts',
+                                'virtio0-output')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector(self):
         """
@@ -143,7 +149,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector(self):
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks' +
                               ' xen_no_vector_callback')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts',
+                                'fasteoi')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector_nomsi(self):
         """
@@ -156,7 +164,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector_nomsi(self):
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks pci=nomsi' +
                               ' xen_no_vector_callback')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts',
+                                'IO-APIC')
 
     def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector_noapic(self):
         """
@@ -168,4 +178,9 @@ def test_kvm_xen_guest_novector_noapic(self):
                               ' xen_emul_unplug=ide-disks' +
                               ' xen_no_vector_callback noapic')
         self.run_and_check()
-        self.ssh_command('grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self,
+                                'grep xen-platform-pci /proc/interrupts',
+                                'XT-PIC')
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    QemuSystemTest.main()
