diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 8ec86ad..a3299b8 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@
     /* Note: for compatibility, we open disk image files as RDWR, and
        RDONLY as fallback */
     if (!(flags & BDRV_O_FILE))
-        open_flags = BDRV_O_RDWR;
+        open_flags = BDRV_O_RDWR | (flags & BDRV_O_DIRECT);
     else
         open_flags = flags & ~(BDRV_O_FILE | BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT);
     ret = drv->bdrv_open(bs, filename, open_flags);