diff --git a/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-in.json b/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-in.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c0286300f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-in.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+    "driver": "raw",
+    "file": {
+        "server.host": "10.10.10.10",
+        "server.port": "7000",
+        "tag": "",
+        "driver": "sheepdog",
+        "server.type": "inet",
+        "vdi": "Alice"
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-out.json b/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-out.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..258b44a76c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/virjsondata/deflatten-qemu-sheepdog-out.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "driver": "raw",
+  "file": {
+    "server": {
+      "host": "10.10.10.10",
+      "port": "7000",
+      "type": "inet"
+    },
+    "tag": "",
+    "driver": "sheepdog",
+    "vdi": "Alice"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/virjsontest.c b/tests/virjsontest.c
index 2771cb5cd8..b3a230a02d 100644
--- a/tests/virjsontest.c
+++ b/tests/virjsontest.c
@@ -519,6 +519,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_DEFLATTEN("double-key", false);
     DO_TEST_DEFLATTEN("concat", true);
     DO_TEST_DEFLATTEN("concat-double-key", false);
+    DO_TEST_DEFLATTEN("qemu-sheepdog", true);
 
     return (ret == 0) ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }
diff --git a/tests/virstoragetest.c b/tests/virstoragetest.c
index f34408395b..90fcf36ca1 100644
--- a/tests/virstoragetest.c
+++ b/tests/virstoragetest.c
@@ -1575,6 +1575,16 @@ mymain(void)
                        "<source protocol='sheepdog' name='test'>\n"
                        "  <host name='example.com' port='321'/>\n"
                        "</source>\n");
+    TEST_BACKING_PARSE("json:{\"driver\": \"raw\","
+                             "\"file\": {\"server.host\": \"10.10.10.10\","
+                                        "\"server.port\": \"7000\","
+                                        "\"tag\": \"\","
+                                        "\"driver\": \"sheepdog\","
+                                        "\"server.type\": \"inet\","
+                                        "\"vdi\": \"Alice\"}}",
+                       "<source protocol='sheepdog' name='Alice'>\n"
+                       "  <host name='10.10.10.10' port='7000'/>\n"
+                       "</source>\n");
 #endif /* WITH_YAJL */
 
  cleanup: