diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
index e8fda95f8389..5f7a229c3af1 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
@@ -266,7 +266,8 @@ static void run_test(enum vm_guest_mode mode, void *arg)
 	int vcpu_id;
 	int r;
 
-	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size);
+	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size,
+				 VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS);
 
 	perf_test_args.wr_fract = 1;
 
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
index a0231be3984d..3b558fba1c88 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ struct test_params {
 	uint64_t phys_offset;
 	int wr_fract;
 	bool partition_vcpu_memory_access;
+	enum vm_mem_backing_src_type backing_src;
 };
 
 static void run_test(enum vm_guest_mode mode, void *arg)
@@ -112,7 +113,8 @@ static void run_test(enum vm_guest_mode mode, void *arg)
 	struct kvm_enable_cap cap = {};
 	struct timespec clear_dirty_log_total = (struct timespec){0};
 
-	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size);
+	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size,
+				 p->backing_src);
 
 	perf_test_args.wr_fract = p->wr_fract;
 
@@ -242,7 +244,7 @@ static void help(char *name)
 {
 	puts("");
 	printf("usage: %s [-h] [-i iterations] [-p offset] "
-	       "[-m mode] [-b vcpu bytes] [-v vcpus] [-o]\n", name);
+	       "[-m mode] [-b vcpu bytes] [-v vcpus] [-o] [-s mem type]\n", name);
 	puts("");
 	printf(" -i: specify iteration counts (default: %"PRIu64")\n",
 	       TEST_HOST_LOOP_N);
@@ -259,6 +261,9 @@ static void help(char *name)
 	printf(" -v: specify the number of vCPUs to run.\n");
 	printf(" -o: Overlap guest memory accesses instead of partitioning\n"
 	       "     them into a separate region of memory for each vCPU.\n");
+	printf(" -s: specify the type of memory that should be used to\n"
+	       "     back the guest data region.\n\n");
+	backing_src_help();
 	puts("");
 	exit(0);
 }
@@ -270,6 +275,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		.iterations = TEST_HOST_LOOP_N,
 		.wr_fract = 1,
 		.partition_vcpu_memory_access = true,
+		.backing_src = VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
 	};
 	int opt;
 
@@ -280,7 +286,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	guest_modes_append_default();
 
-	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "hi:p:m:b:f:v:o")) != -1) {
+	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "hi:p:m:b:f:v:os:")) != -1) {
 		switch (opt) {
 		case 'i':
 			p.iterations = atoi(optarg);
@@ -306,6 +312,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			break;
 		case 'o':
 			p.partition_vcpu_memory_access = false;
+		case 's':
+			p.backing_src = parse_backing_src_type(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'h':
 		default:
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util.h
index 5cbb861525ed..2d7eb6989e83 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util.h
@@ -79,12 +79,6 @@ struct vm_guest_mode_params {
 };
 extern const struct vm_guest_mode_params vm_guest_mode_params[];
 
-enum vm_mem_backing_src_type {
-	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
-	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_THP,
-	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_HUGETLB,
-};
-
 int kvm_check_cap(long cap);
 int vm_enable_cap(struct kvm_vm *vm, struct kvm_enable_cap *cap);
 int vcpu_enable_cap(struct kvm_vm *vm, uint32_t vcpu_id,
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/perf_test_util.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/perf_test_util.h
index f406534f0487..005f2143adeb 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/perf_test_util.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/perf_test_util.h
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ extern struct perf_test_args perf_test_args;
 extern uint64_t guest_test_phys_mem;
 
 struct kvm_vm *perf_test_create_vm(enum vm_guest_mode mode, int vcpus,
-				uint64_t vcpu_memory_bytes);
+				   uint64_t vcpu_memory_bytes,
+				   enum vm_mem_backing_src_type backing_src);
 void perf_test_destroy_vm(struct kvm_vm *vm);
 void perf_test_setup_vcpus(struct kvm_vm *vm, int vcpus,
 			   uint64_t vcpu_memory_bytes,
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
index b86090ef82da..b7f41399f22c 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
@@ -67,4 +67,18 @@ struct timespec timespec_sub(struct timespec ts1, struct timespec ts2);
 struct timespec timespec_elapsed(struct timespec start);
 struct timespec timespec_div(struct timespec ts, int divisor);
 
+enum vm_mem_backing_src_type {
+	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
+	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_THP,
+	VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_HUGETLB,
+};
+
+struct vm_mem_backing_src_alias {
+	const char *name;
+	enum vm_mem_backing_src_type type;
+};
+
+void backing_src_help(void);
+enum vm_mem_backing_src_type parse_backing_src_type(const char *type_name);
+
 #endif /* SELFTEST_KVM_TEST_UTIL_H */
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/perf_test_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/perf_test_util.c
index f5fed2fbe964..81490b9b4e32 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/perf_test_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/perf_test_util.c
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ static void guest_code(uint32_t vcpu_id)
 }
 
 struct kvm_vm *perf_test_create_vm(enum vm_guest_mode mode, int vcpus,
-				   uint64_t vcpu_memory_bytes)
+				   uint64_t vcpu_memory_bytes,
+				   enum vm_mem_backing_src_type backing_src)
 {
 	struct kvm_vm *vm;
 	uint64_t guest_num_pages;
@@ -93,8 +94,7 @@ struct kvm_vm *perf_test_create_vm(enum vm_guest_mode mode, int vcpus,
 	pr_info("guest physical test memory offset: 0x%lx\n", guest_test_phys_mem);
 
 	/* Add an extra memory slot for testing */
-	vm_userspace_mem_region_add(vm, VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
-				    guest_test_phys_mem,
+	vm_userspace_mem_region_add(vm, backing_src, guest_test_phys_mem,
 				    PERF_TEST_MEM_SLOT_INDEX,
 				    guest_num_pages, 0);
 
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
index 5f87ed32caf5..906c955384e2 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <time.h>
+#include "linux/kernel.h"
 
 #include "test_util.h"
 
@@ -109,3 +110,31 @@ void print_skip(const char *fmt, ...)
 	va_end(ap);
 	puts(", skipping test");
 }
+
+const struct vm_mem_backing_src_alias backing_src_aliases[] = {
+	{"anonymous", VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,},
+	{"anonymous_thp", VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_THP,},
+	{"anonymous_hugetlb", VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS_HUGETLB,},
+};
+
+void backing_src_help(void)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	printf("Available backing src types:\n");
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(backing_src_aliases); i++)
+		printf("\t%s\n", backing_src_aliases[i].name);
+}
+
+enum vm_mem_backing_src_type parse_backing_src_type(const char *type_name)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(backing_src_aliases); i++)
+		if (!strcmp(type_name, backing_src_aliases[i].name))
+			return backing_src_aliases[i].type;
+
+	backing_src_help();
+	TEST_FAIL("Unknown backing src type: %s", type_name);
+	return -1;
+}
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/memslot_modification_stress_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/memslot_modification_stress_test.c
index cae1b90cb63f..6096bf0a5b34 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/memslot_modification_stress_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/memslot_modification_stress_test.c
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ static void run_test(enum vm_guest_mode mode, void *arg)
 	struct kvm_vm *vm;
 	int vcpu_id;
 
-	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size);
+	vm = perf_test_create_vm(mode, nr_vcpus, guest_percpu_mem_size,
+				 VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS);
 
 	perf_test_args.wr_fract = 1;