diff --git a/tools/virsh-domain.c b/tools/virsh-domain.c
index f39d0a6c50..2bb3bbc48f 100644
--- a/tools/virsh-domain.c
+++ b/tools/virsh-domain.c
@@ -2048,6 +2048,10 @@ static const vshCmdOptDef opts_block_job[] = {
      .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
      .help = N_("get active job information for the specified disk")
     },
+    {.name = "bytes",
+     .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
+     .help = N_("with --info, get bandwidth in bytes rather than MiB/s")
+    },
     {.name = "raw",
      .type = VSH_OT_BOOL,
      .help = N_("implies --info; output details rather than human summary")
@@ -2080,8 +2084,9 @@ cmdBlockJob(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
 {
     virDomainBlockJobInfo info;
     bool ret = false;
-    int rc;
+    int rc = -1;
     bool raw = vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "raw");
+    bool bytes = vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "bytes");
     bool abortMode = (vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "abort") ||
                       vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "async") ||
                       vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "pivot"));
@@ -2090,12 +2095,18 @@ cmdBlockJob(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     virDomainPtr dom = NULL;
     const char *path;
     unsigned int flags = 0;
+    unsigned long long speed;
 
     if (abortMode + infoMode + bandwidth > 1) {
         vshError(ctl, "%s",
                  _("conflict between abort, info, and bandwidth modes"));
         return false;
     }
+    /* XXX also support --bytes with bandwidth mode */
+    if (bytes && (abortMode || bandwidth)) {
+        vshError(ctl, "%s", _("--bytes requires info mode"));
+        return false;
+    }
 
     if (abortMode)
         return blockJobImpl(ctl, cmd, VSH_CMD_BLOCK_JOB_ABORT, NULL);
@@ -2110,9 +2121,47 @@ cmdBlockJob(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     if (vshCommandOptStringReq(ctl, cmd, "path", &path) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    rc = virDomainGetBlockJobInfo(dom, path, &info, flags);
-    if (rc < 0)
-        goto cleanup;
+    /* If bytes were requested, or if raw mode is not forcing a MiB/s
+     * query and cache can't prove failure, then query bytes/sec.  */
+    if (bytes || !(raw || ctl->blockJobNoBytes)) {
+        flags |= VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_INFO_BANDWIDTH_BYTES;
+        rc = virDomainGetBlockJobInfo(dom, path, &info, flags);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            /* Check for particular errors, let all the rest be fatal. */
+            switch (last_error->code) {
+            case VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG:
+                ctl->blockJobNoBytes = true;
+                /* fallthrough */
+            case VIR_ERR_OVERFLOW:
+                if (!bytes && !raw) {
+                    /* try again with MiB/s, unless forcing bytes */
+                    vshResetLibvirtError();
+                    break;
+                }
+                /* fallthrough */
+            default:
+                goto cleanup;
+            }
+        }
+        speed = info.bandwidth;
+    }
+    /* If we don't already have a query result, query for MiB/s */
+    if (rc < 0) {
+        flags &= ~VIR_DOMAIN_BLOCK_JOB_INFO_BANDWIDTH_BYTES;
+        if ((rc = virDomainGetBlockJobInfo(dom, path, &info, flags)) < 0)
+            goto cleanup;
+        speed = info.bandwidth;
+        /* Scale to bytes/s unless in raw mode */
+        if (!raw) {
+            speed <<= 20;
+            if (speed >> 20 != info.bandwidth) {
+                vshError(ctl, _("overflow in converting %ld MiB/s to bytes\n"),
+                         info.bandwidth);
+                goto cleanup;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     if (rc == 0) {
         if (!raw)
             vshPrint(ctl, _("No current block job for %s"), path);
@@ -2127,9 +2176,12 @@ cmdBlockJob(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     } else {
         vshPrintJobProgress(vshDomainBlockJobToString(info.type),
                             info.end - info.cur, info.end);
-        if (info.bandwidth != 0)
-            vshPrint(ctl, _("    Bandwidth limit: %lu MiB/s"),
-                     info.bandwidth);
+        if (speed) {
+            const char *unit;
+            double val = vshPrettyCapacity(speed, &unit);
+            vshPrint(ctl, _("    Bandwidth limit: %llu bytes/s (%-.3lf %s/s)"),
+                     speed, val, unit);
+        }
         vshPrint(ctl, "\n");
     }
     ret = true;
diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index 713c9a5fb6..9706acc88e 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ vshReconnect(vshControl *ctl)
     disconnected = 0;
     ctl->useGetInfo = false;
     ctl->useSnapshotOld = false;
+    ctl->blockJobNoBytes = false;
 }
 
 
@@ -454,6 +455,7 @@ cmdConnect(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
 
     ctl->useGetInfo = false;
     ctl->useSnapshotOld = false;
+    ctl->blockJobNoBytes = false;
     ctl->readonly = ro;
 
     ctl->conn = vshConnect(ctl, ctl->name, ctl->readonly);
diff --git a/tools/virsh.h b/tools/virsh.h
index b4df24bb39..7d5d8a2dc6 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.h
+++ b/tools/virsh.h
@@ -238,6 +238,8 @@ struct _vshControl {
                                    virDomainGetState is not supported */
     bool useSnapshotOld;        /* cannot use virDomainSnapshotGetParent or
                                    virDomainSnapshotNumChildren */
+    bool blockJobNoBytes;       /* true if _BANDWIDTH_BYTE blockjob flags
+                                   are missing */
     virThread eventLoop;
     virMutex lock;
     bool eventLoopStarted;
diff --git a/tools/virsh.pod b/tools/virsh.pod
index acde0a1ae0..d95df364d8 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.pod
+++ b/tools/virsh.pod
@@ -1013,7 +1013,7 @@ exclusive. If no flag is specified, behavior is different depending
 on hypervisor.
 
 =item B<blockjob> I<domain> I<path> { [I<--abort>] [I<--async>] [I<--pivot>] |
-[I<--info>] [I<--raw>] | [I<bandwidth>] }
+[I<--info>] [I<--raw>] [I<--bytes>] | [I<bandwidth>] }
 
 Manage active block operations.  There are three mutually-exclusive modes:
 I<--info>, I<bandwidth>, and I<--abort>.  I<--async> and I<--pivot> imply
@@ -1034,7 +1034,11 @@ commit job be pivoted over to the new image.
 In I<--info> mode, the active job information on the specified
 disk will be printed.  By default, the output is a single human-readable
 summary line; this format may change in future versions.  Adding
-I<--raw> lists each field of the struct, in a stable format.
+I<--raw> lists each field of the struct, in a stable format.  If the
+I<--bytes> flag is set, then the command errors out if the server could
+not supply bytes/s resolution; when omitting the flag, raw output is
+listed in MiB/s and human-readable output automatically selects the
+best resolution supported by the server.
 
 I<bandwidth> can be used to set bandwidth limit for the active job.
 Specifying a negative value is interpreted as an unsigned long long