diff --git a/src/storage/storage_source.c b/src/storage/storage_source.c
index b620153f1e..bf47622372 100644
--- a/src/storage/storage_source.c
+++ b/src/storage/storage_source.c
@@ -527,14 +527,20 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadata(virStorageSourcePtr src,
               allow_probe, report_broken);
 
     virHashTablePtr cycle = NULL;
+    virStorageType actualType = virStorageSourceGetActualType(src);
     int ret = -1;
 
     if (!(cycle = virHashCreate(5, NULL)))
         return -1;
 
-    if (src->format <= VIR_STORAGE_FILE_NONE)
-        src->format = allow_probe ?
-            VIR_STORAGE_FILE_AUTO : VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW;
+    if (src->format <= VIR_STORAGE_FILE_NONE) {
+        if (actualType == VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_DIR)
+            src->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_DIR;
+        else if (allow_probe)
+            src->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_AUTO;
+        else
+            src->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW;
+    }
 
     ret = virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(src, src, uid, gid,
                                            allow_probe, report_broken, cycle);
diff --git a/tests/virstoragetest.c b/tests/virstoragetest.c
index d83db78f56..60e3164b0a 100644
--- a/tests/virstoragetest.c
+++ b/tests/virstoragetest.c
@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@ testStorageFileGetMetadata(const char *path,
     if (stat(path, &st) == 0) {
         if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
             ret->type = VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_DIR;
-            ret->format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_DIR;
         } else if (S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
             ret->type = VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_BLOCK;
         }
@@ -963,7 +962,15 @@ mymain(void)
         .type = VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_DIR,
         .format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_DIR,
     };
-    TEST_CHAIN(absdir, VIR_STORAGE_FILE_AUTO,
+    testFileData dir_as_raw = {
+        .path = canondir,
+        .type = VIR_STORAGE_TYPE_DIR,
+        .format = VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW,
+    };
+    TEST_CHAIN(absdir, VIR_STORAGE_FILE_RAW,
+               (&dir_as_raw), EXP_PASS,
+               (&dir_as_raw), ALLOW_PROBE | EXP_PASS);
+    TEST_CHAIN(absdir, VIR_STORAGE_FILE_NONE,
                (&dir), EXP_PASS,
                (&dir), ALLOW_PROBE | EXP_PASS);
     TEST_CHAIN(absdir, VIR_STORAGE_FILE_DIR,