diff --git a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/block.rs b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/block.rs
index c06f0dea2..be461d7a7 100644
--- a/fuzz/fuzz_targets/block.rs
+++ b/fuzz/fuzz_targets/block.rs
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ fuzz_target!(|bytes: &[u8]| -> Corpus {
         EventFd::new(EFD_NONBLOCK).unwrap(),
         None,
         queue_affinity,
+        true,
     )
     .unwrap();
 
diff --git a/virtio-devices/src/block.rs b/virtio-devices/src/block.rs
index 7de45bc1b..e05900b5a 100644
--- a/virtio-devices/src/block.rs
+++ b/virtio-devices/src/block.rs
@@ -672,6 +672,7 @@ impl Block {
         exit_evt: EventFd,
         state: Option<BlockState>,
         queue_affinity: BTreeMap<u16, Vec<usize>>,
+        _sparse: bool,
     ) -> io::Result<Self> {
         let (disk_nsectors, avail_features, acked_features, config, paused) =
             if let Some(state) = state {
diff --git a/vmm/src/config.rs b/vmm/src/config.rs
index abadbb936..8a8d637fd 100644
--- a/vmm/src/config.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/config.rs
@@ -1096,7 +1096,7 @@ impl DiskConfig {
          ops_size=<io_ops>,ops_one_time_burst=<io_ops>,ops_refill_time=<ms>,\
          id=<device_id>,pci_segment=<segment_id>,rate_limit_group=<group_id>,\
          queue_affinity=<list_of_queue_indices_with_their_associated_cpuset>,\
-         serial=<serial_number>,backing_files=on|off";
+         serial=<serial_number>,backing_files=on|off,sparse=on|off";
 
     pub fn parse(disk: &str) -> Result<Self> {
         let mut parser = OptionParser::new();
@@ -1122,7 +1122,8 @@ impl DiskConfig {
             .add("serial")
             .add("rate_limit_group")
             .add("queue_affinity")
-            .add("backing_files");
+            .add("backing_files")
+            .add("sparse");
         parser.parse(disk).map_err(Error::ParseDisk)?;
 
         let path = parser.get("path").map(PathBuf::from);
@@ -1239,6 +1240,11 @@ impl DiskConfig {
         } else {
             None
         };
+        let sparse = parser
+            .convert::<Toggle>("sparse")
+            .map_err(Error::ParseDisk)?
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| Toggle(default_diskconfig_sparse()))
+            .0;
 
         Ok(DiskConfig {
             path,
@@ -1258,6 +1264,7 @@ impl DiskConfig {
             serial,
             queue_affinity,
             backing_files,
+            sparse,
         })
     }
 
@@ -3508,6 +3515,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
             serial: None,
             queue_affinity: None,
             backing_files: false,
+            sparse: true,
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/vmm/src/device_manager.rs b/vmm/src/device_manager.rs
index 0a88b4400..a78e2ab2f 100644
--- a/vmm/src/device_manager.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/device_manager.rs
@@ -2799,6 +2799,7 @@ impl DeviceManager {
                 state_from_id(self.snapshot.as_ref(), id.as_str())
                     .map_err(DeviceManagerError::RestoreGetState)?,
                 queue_affinity,
+                disk_cfg.sparse,
             )
             .map_err(DeviceManagerError::CreateVirtioBlock)?;
 
diff --git a/vmm/src/vm_config.rs b/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
index e0e74cb4a..407d4e491 100644
--- a/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/vm_config.rs
@@ -286,6 +286,8 @@ pub struct DiskConfig {
     pub queue_affinity: Option<Vec<VirtQueueAffinity>>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub backing_files: bool,
+    #[serde(default = "default_diskconfig_sparse")]
+    pub sparse: bool,
 }
 
 impl ApplyLandlock for DiskConfig {
@@ -309,6 +311,10 @@ pub fn default_diskconfig_queue_size() -> u16 {
     DEFAULT_DISK_QUEUE_SIZE
 }
 
+pub fn default_diskconfig_sparse() -> bool {
+    true
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 pub struct NetConfig {
     #[serde(default = "default_netconfig_tap")]