diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.html.in b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
index 949e2fc1b4..a0b3632b7e 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
 
 <pre>
 ...
-&lt;os&gt;
+&lt;os firmware='uefi'&gt;
   &lt;type&gt;hvm&lt;/type&gt;
   &lt;loader readonly='yes' secure='no' type='rom'&gt;/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader&lt;/loader&gt;
   &lt;nvram template='/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_VARS.fd'&gt;/var/lib/libvirt/nvram/guest_VARS.fd&lt;/nvram&gt;
@@ -141,6 +141,26 @@
 ...</pre>
 
     <dl>
+      <dt><code>firmware</code></dt>
+      <dd>The <code>firmware</code> attribute allows management
+        applications to automatically fill <code>&lt;loader/&gt;</code>
+        and <code>&lt;nvram/&gt;</code> elements and possibly enable
+        some features required by selected firmware. Accepted values are
+        <code>bios</code> and <code>efi</code>.<br/>
+        The selection process scans for files describing installed
+        firmware images in specified location and uses the most specific
+        one which fulfils domain requirements. The locations in order of
+        preference (from generic to most specific one) are:
+        <ul>
+          <li><code>/usr/share/qemu/firmware</code></li>
+          <li><code>/etc/qemu/firmware</code></li>
+          <li><code>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/qemu/firmware</code></li>
+        </ul>
+        For more information refer to firmware metadata specification as
+        described in <code>docs/interop/firmware.json</code> in QEMU
+        repository. Regular users do not need to bother.
+        <span class="since">Since 5.2.0 (QEMU and KVM only)</span>
+      </dd>
       <dt><code>type</code></dt>
       <dd>The content of the <code>type</code> element specifies the
         type of operating system to be booted in the virtual machine.
diff --git a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
index c8d63c4912..87ba9daeda 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
@@ -256,6 +256,14 @@
     </optional>
     <element name="os">
       <interleave>
+        <optional>
+          <attribute name="firmware">
+            <choice>
+              <value>bios</value>
+              <value>efi</value>
+            </choice>
+          </attribute>
+        </optional>
         <ref name="ostypehvm"/>
         <optional>
           <element name="loader">
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 28f4ecdced..778c386ee2 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -1079,6 +1079,13 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainHPTResizing,
               "required",
 );
 
+VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainOsDefFirmware,
+              VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_LAST,
+              "none",
+              "bios",
+              "efi",
+);
+
 /* Internal mapping: subset of block job types that can be present in
  * <mirror> XML (remaining types are not two-phase). */
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainBlockJob);
@@ -6608,14 +6615,23 @@ virDomainDefMemtuneValidate(const virDomainDef *def)
 
 
 static int
-virDomainDefOSValidate(const virDomainDef *def)
+virDomainDefOSValidate(const virDomainDef *def,
+                       virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt)
 {
     if (!def->os.loader)
         return 0;
 
-    if (!def->os.loader->path) {
+    if (def->os.firmware &&
+        !(xmlopt->config.features & VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FEATURE_FW_AUTOSELECT)) {
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_DETAIL, "%s",
-                       _("no loader path specified"));
+                       _("firmware auto selection not implemented for this driver"));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (!def->os.loader->path &&
+        def->os.firmware == VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_NONE) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_DETAIL, "%s",
+                       _("no loader path specified and firmware auto selection disabled"));
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -6624,7 +6640,8 @@ virDomainDefOSValidate(const virDomainDef *def)
 
 
 static int
-virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def)
+virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def,
+                             virDomainXMLOptionPtr xmlopt)
 {
     if (virDomainDefCheckDuplicateDiskInfo(def) < 0)
         return -1;
@@ -6661,7 +6678,7 @@ virDomainDefValidateInternal(const virDomainDef *def)
     if (virDomainDefMemtuneValidate(def) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    if (virDomainDefOSValidate(def) < 0)
+    if (virDomainDefOSValidate(def, xmlopt) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     return 0;
@@ -6712,7 +6729,7 @@ virDomainDefValidate(virDomainDefPtr def,
                                            &data) < 0)
         return -1;
 
-    if (virDomainDefValidateInternal(def) < 0)
+    if (virDomainDefValidateInternal(def, xmlopt) < 0)
         return -1;
 
     return 0;
@@ -18267,19 +18284,22 @@ virDomainDefMaybeAddHostdevSCSIcontroller(virDomainDefPtr def)
 
 static int
 virDomainLoaderDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
-                           virDomainLoaderDefPtr loader)
+                           virDomainLoaderDefPtr loader,
+                           bool fwAutoSelect)
 {
     VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) readonly_str = NULL;
     VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) secure_str = NULL;
     VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) type_str = NULL;
 
-    readonly_str = virXMLPropString(node, "readonly");
     secure_str = virXMLPropString(node, "secure");
-    type_str = virXMLPropString(node, "type");
-    loader->path = (char *) xmlNodeGetContent(node);
 
-    if (STREQ_NULLABLE(loader->path, ""))
-        VIR_FREE(loader->path);
+    if (!fwAutoSelect) {
+        readonly_str = virXMLPropString(node, "readonly");
+        type_str = virXMLPropString(node, "type");
+        loader->path = (char *) xmlNodeGetContent(node);
+        if (STREQ_NULLABLE(loader->path, ""))
+            VIR_FREE(loader->path);
+    }
 
     if (readonly_str &&
         (loader->readonly = virTristateBoolTypeFromString(readonly_str)) <= 0) {
@@ -18674,6 +18694,7 @@ virDomainDefParseBootOptions(virDomainDefPtr def,
         def->os.type == VIR_DOMAIN_OSTYPE_XENPVH ||
         def->os.type == VIR_DOMAIN_OSTYPE_HVM ||
         def->os.type == VIR_DOMAIN_OSTYPE_UML) {
+        VIR_AUTOFREE(char *) firmware = NULL;
         xmlNodePtr loader_node;
 
         def->os.kernel = virXPathString("string(./os/kernel[1])", ctxt);
@@ -18681,15 +18702,35 @@ virDomainDefParseBootOptions(virDomainDefPtr def,
         def->os.cmdline = virXPathString("string(./os/cmdline[1])", ctxt);
         def->os.dtb = virXPathString("string(./os/dtb[1])", ctxt);
         def->os.root = virXPathString("string(./os/root[1])", ctxt);
+
+        if (def->os.type == VIR_DOMAIN_OSTYPE_HVM &&
+            (firmware = virXPathString("string(./os/@firmware)", ctxt))) {
+            int fw = virDomainOsDefFirmwareTypeFromString(firmware);
+
+            if (fw <= 0) {
+                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
+                               _("unknown firmware value %s"),
+                               firmware);
+                return -1;
+            }
+
+            def->os.firmware = fw;
+        }
+
         if ((loader_node = virXPathNode("./os/loader[1]", ctxt))) {
+            const bool fwAutoSelect = def->os.firmware != VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_NONE;
+
             if (VIR_ALLOC(def->os.loader) < 0)
                 return -1;
 
-            if (virDomainLoaderDefParseXML(loader_node, def->os.loader) < 0)
+            if (virDomainLoaderDefParseXML(loader_node,
+                                           def->os.loader,
+                                           fwAutoSelect) < 0)
                 return -1;
 
             def->os.loader->nvram = virXPathString("string(./os/nvram[1])", ctxt);
-            def->os.loader->templt = virXPathString("string(./os/nvram[1]/@template)", ctxt);
+            if (!fwAutoSelect)
+                def->os.loader->templt = virXPathString("string(./os/nvram[1]/@template)", ctxt);
         }
     }
 
@@ -28078,7 +28119,11 @@ virDomainDefFormatInternal(virDomainDefPtr def,
                               def->os.bootloaderArgs);
     }
 
-    virBufferAddLit(buf, "<os>\n");
+    virBufferAddLit(buf, "<os");
+    if (def->os.firmware)
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, " firmware='%s'",
+                          virDomainOsDefFirmwareTypeToString(def->os.firmware));
+    virBufferAddLit(buf, ">\n");
     virBufferAdjustIndent(buf, 2);
     virBufferAddLit(buf, "<type");
     if (def->os.arch)
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index ed5d00c399..fe9d4fb81a 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2005,10 +2005,21 @@ struct _virDomainOSEnv {
     char *value;
 };
 
+typedef enum {
+    VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_NONE = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_BIOS,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_EFI,
+
+    VIR_DOMAIN_OS_DEF_FIRMWARE_LAST
+} virDomainOsDefFirmware;
+
+VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainOsDefFirmware);
+
 typedef struct _virDomainOSDef virDomainOSDef;
 typedef virDomainOSDef *virDomainOSDefPtr;
 struct _virDomainOSDef {
     int type;
+    virDomainOsDefFirmware firmware;
     virArch arch;
     char *machine;
     size_t nBootDevs;
@@ -2729,6 +2740,7 @@ typedef enum {
     VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FEATURE_INDIVIDUAL_VCPUS = (1 << 4),
     VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FEATURE_USER_ALIAS = (1 << 5),
     VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FEATURE_NO_BOOT_ORDER = (1 << 6),
+    VIR_DOMAIN_DEF_FEATURE_FW_AUTOSELECT = (1 << 7),
 } virDomainDefFeatures;
 
 
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 86f639a9c1..960a97cf1d 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -510,6 +510,8 @@ virDomainObjTaint;
 virDomainObjUpdateModificationImpact;
 virDomainObjWait;
 virDomainObjWaitUntil;
+virDomainOsDefFirmwareTypeFromString;
+virDomainOsDefFirmwareTypeToString;
 virDomainOSTypeFromString;
 virDomainOSTypeToString;
 virDomainParseMemory;