1 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 46eb1728da..684cb018da 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -2245,7 +2245,8 @@ int bdrv_open_backing_file(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *parent_options,
         goto free_exit;
     }
 
-    if (bs->backing_format[0] != '\0' && !qdict_haskey(options, "driver")) {
+    if (!reference &&
+        bs->backing_format[0] != '\0' && !qdict_haskey(options, "driver")) {
         qdict_put_str(options, "driver", bs->backing_format);
     }