diff --git a/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py b/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
index 1b02df6ec7..4e8c72e4f4 100755
--- a/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
+++ b/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
@@ -1,20 +1,33 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
+import argparse
 import os
 import subprocess
 
 
-def gather_name():
+def gather_name(args):
+    if args.name:
+        return args.name
+
     with open("/proc/cpuinfo", "rt") as f:
         for line in f.readlines():
             if line.startswith("model name"):
                 return line.split(":", 2)[1].strip()
 
-    exit("Error: '/proc/cpuinfo' does not contain a model name.")
+    exit("Error: '/proc/cpuinfo' does not contain a model name.\n"
+         "Use '--model' to set a model name.")
 
 
 def main():
-    name = gather_name()
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Gather cpu test data")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--name",
+        help="CPU model name. "
+        "If unset, model name is read from '/proc/cpuinfo'.")
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    name = gather_name(args)
     print("model name\t: {}".format(name))
 
     print(end="", flush=True)