diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_virtiofs.c b/src/qemu/qemu_virtiofs.c
index 0e3c7dbb58..703f1226a2 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_virtiofs.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_virtiofs.c
@@ -194,6 +194,9 @@ qemuVirtioFSBuildCommandLine(virQEMUDriverConfig *cfg,
     if (fs->thread_pool_size >= 0)
         virCommandAddArgFormat(cmd, "--thread-pool-size=%i", fs->thread_pool_size);
 
+    if (fs->rlimit_nofile > 0)
+        virCommandAddArgFormat(cmd, "--rlimit-nofile=%llu", fs->rlimit_nofile);
+
     if (cfg->virtiofsdDebug) {
         if (virBitmapIsBitSet(fs->caps, QEMU_VHOST_USER_FS_FEATURE_SEPARATE_OPTIONS))
             virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "--log-level", "debug", NULL);