diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
index e15e7a7c8e..09a27f02d0 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.rc
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ else
         TEST_IMG="nbd:127.0.0.1:10810"
     elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "ssh" ]; then
         TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT
+        REMOTE_TEST_DIR="ssh://127.0.0.1$TEST_DIR"
         TEST_IMG="ssh://127.0.0.1$TEST_IMG_FILE"
     elif [ "$IMGPROTO" = "nfs" ]; then
         TEST_IMG_FILE=$TEST_DIR/t.$IMGFMT