diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
index ce4056a7b3..b17577e987 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ qemuBlockJobDataDisposeJobdata(qemuBlockJobDataPtr job)
 {
     if (job->type == QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_CREATE)
         virObjectUnref(job->data.create.src);
+
+    if (job->type == QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BACKUP) {
+        virObjectUnref(job->data.backup.store);
+        g_free(job->data.backup.bitmap);
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -370,6 +375,34 @@ qemuBlockJobDiskNewCopy(virDomainObjPtr vm,
 }
 
 
+qemuBlockJobDataPtr
+qemuBlockJobDiskNewBackup(virDomainObjPtr vm,
+                          virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
+                          virStorageSourcePtr store,
+                          bool deleteStore,
+                          const char *bitmap)
+{
+    g_autoptr(qemuBlockJobData) job = NULL;
+    g_autofree char *jobname = NULL;
+
+    jobname = g_strdup_printf("backup-%s-%s", disk->dst, disk->src->nodeformat);
+
+    if (!(job = qemuBlockJobDataNew(QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BACKUP, jobname)))
+        return NULL;
+
+    job->data.backup.bitmap = g_strdup(bitmap);
+    job->data.backup.store = virObjectRef(store);
+    job->data.backup.deleteStore = deleteStore;
+
+    /* backup jobs are usually started in bulk by transaction so the caller
+     * shall save the status XML */
+    if (qemuBlockJobRegister(job, vm, disk, false) < 0)
+        return NULL;
+
+    return g_steal_pointer(&job);
+}
+
+
 /**
  * qemuBlockJobDiskGetJob:
  * @disk: disk definition
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.h b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.h
index 4734984c99..52b03aaf9e 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.h
@@ -107,6 +107,16 @@ struct _qemuBlockJobCopyData {
 };
 
 
+typedef struct _qemuBlockJobBackupData qemuBlockJobBackupData;
+typedef qemuBlockJobBackupData *qemuBlockJobDataBackupPtr;
+
+struct _qemuBlockJobBackupData {
+    virStorageSourcePtr store;
+    bool deleteStore;
+    char *bitmap;
+};
+
+
 typedef struct _qemuBlockJobData qemuBlockJobData;
 typedef qemuBlockJobData *qemuBlockJobDataPtr;
 
@@ -124,6 +134,7 @@ struct _qemuBlockJobData {
         qemuBlockJobCommitData commit;
         qemuBlockJobCreateData create;
         qemuBlockJobCopyData copy;
+        qemuBlockJobBackupData backup;
     } data;
 
     int type; /* qemuBlockJobType */
@@ -184,6 +195,13 @@ qemuBlockJobDiskNewCopy(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                         bool shallow,
                         bool reuse);
 
+qemuBlockJobDataPtr
+qemuBlockJobDiskNewBackup(virDomainObjPtr vm,
+                          virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
+                          virStorageSourcePtr store,
+                          bool deleteStore,
+                          const char *bitmap);
+
 qemuBlockJobDataPtr
 qemuBlockJobDiskGetJob(virDomainDiskDefPtr disk)
     ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 1be6cfccff..873a397ac6 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -2608,6 +2608,18 @@ qemuDomainObjPrivateXMLFormatBlockjobIterator(void *payload,
             break;
 
         case QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BACKUP:
+            virBufferEscapeString(&childBuf, "<bitmap name='%s'/>\n", job->data.backup.bitmap);
+            if (job->data.backup.store) {
+                if (qemuDomainObjPrivateXMLFormatBlockjobFormatSource(&childBuf,
+                                                                      "store",
+                                                                      job->data.backup.store,
+                                                                      data->xmlopt,
+                                                                      false) < 0)
+                    return -1;
+
+                if (job->data.backup.deleteStore)
+                    virBufferAddLit(&childBuf, "<deleteStore/>\n");
+            }
             break;
 
         case QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BROKEN:
@@ -3202,6 +3214,15 @@ qemuDomainObjPrivateXMLParseBlockjobDataSpecific(qemuBlockJobDataPtr job,
             break;
 
         case QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BACKUP:
+            job->data.backup.bitmap =  virXPathString("string(./bitmap/@name)", ctxt);
+
+            if (!(tmp = virXPathNode("./store", ctxt)) ||
+                !(job->data.backup.store = qemuDomainObjPrivateXMLParseBlockjobChain(tmp, ctxt, xmlopt)))
+                goto broken;
+
+            if (virXPathNode("./deleteStore", ctxt))
+                job->data.backup.deleteStore = true;
+
             break;
 
         case QEMU_BLOCKJOB_TYPE_BROKEN: