diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/access_tracking_perf_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/access_tracking_perf_test.c
index 71e277c7c3f3..5d95113c7b7c 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/access_tracking_perf_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/access_tracking_perf_test.c
@@ -371,9 +371,7 @@ static void help(char *name)
 	printf(" -v: specify the number of vCPUs to run.\n");
 	printf(" -o: Overlap guest memory accesses instead of partitioning\n"
 	       "     them into a separate region of memory for each vCPU.\n");
-	printf(" -s: specify the type of memory that should be used to\n"
-	       "     back the guest data region.\n\n");
-	backing_src_help();
+	backing_src_help("-s");
 	puts("");
 	exit(0);
 }
@@ -381,7 +379,7 @@ static void help(char *name)
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	struct test_params params = {
-		.backing_src = VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
+		.backing_src = DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC,
 		.vcpu_memory_bytes = DEFAULT_PER_VCPU_MEM_SIZE,
 		.vcpus = 1,
 	};
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
index 735c081e774e..96cd3e0357f6 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/demand_paging_test.c
@@ -426,8 +426,7 @@ static void help(char *name)
 	printf(" -b: specify the size of the memory region which should be\n"
 	       "     demand paged by each vCPU. e.g. 10M or 3G.\n"
 	       "     Default: 1G\n");
-	printf(" -s: The type of backing memory to use. Default: anonymous\n");
-	backing_src_help();
+	backing_src_help("-s");
 	printf(" -v: specify the number of vCPUs to run.\n");
 	printf(" -o: Overlap guest memory accesses instead of partitioning\n"
 	       "     them into a separate region of memory for each vCPU.\n");
@@ -439,7 +438,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	int max_vcpus = kvm_check_cap(KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS);
 	struct test_params p = {
-		.src_type = VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
+		.src_type = DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC,
 		.partition_vcpu_memory_access = true,
 	};
 	int opt;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
index 3c30d0045d8d..5ad9f2bc7369 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/dirty_log_perf_test.c
@@ -308,11 +308,9 @@ static void help(char *name)
 	printf(" -v: specify the number of vCPUs to run.\n");
 	printf(" -o: Overlap guest memory accesses instead of partitioning\n"
 	       "     them into a separate region of memory for each vCPU.\n");
-	printf(" -s: specify the type of memory that should be used to\n"
-	       "     back the guest data region.\n\n");
+	backing_src_help("-s");
 	printf(" -x: Split the memory region into this number of memslots.\n"
-	       "     (default: 1)");
-	backing_src_help();
+	       "     (default: 1)\n");
 	puts("");
 	exit(0);
 }
@@ -324,7 +322,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		.iterations = TEST_HOST_LOOP_N,
 		.wr_fract = 1,
 		.partition_vcpu_memory_access = true,
-		.backing_src = VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
+		.backing_src = DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC,
 		.slots = 1,
 	};
 	int opt;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
index d79be15dd3d2..4fa1db32c05e 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/test_util.h
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ enum vm_mem_backing_src_type {
 	NUM_SRC_TYPES,
 };
 
+#define DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS
+
 struct vm_mem_backing_src_alias {
 	const char *name;
 	uint32_t flag;
@@ -100,7 +102,7 @@ size_t get_trans_hugepagesz(void);
 size_t get_def_hugetlb_pagesz(void);
 const struct vm_mem_backing_src_alias *vm_mem_backing_src_alias(uint32_t i);
 size_t get_backing_src_pagesz(uint32_t i);
-void backing_src_help(void);
+void backing_src_help(const char *flag);
 enum vm_mem_backing_src_type parse_backing_src_type(const char *type_name);
 
 /*
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/kvm_page_table_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/kvm_page_table_test.c
index 0d04a7db7f24..36407cb0ec85 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/kvm_page_table_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/kvm_page_table_test.c
@@ -456,10 +456,7 @@ static void help(char *name)
 	       "     (default: 1G)\n");
 	printf(" -v: specify the number of vCPUs to run\n"
 	       "     (default: 1)\n");
-	printf(" -s: specify the type of memory that should be used to\n"
-	       "     back the guest data region.\n"
-	       "     (default: anonymous)\n\n");
-	backing_src_help();
+	backing_src_help("-s");
 	puts("");
 }
 
@@ -468,7 +465,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int max_vcpus = kvm_check_cap(KVM_CAP_MAX_VCPUS);
 	struct test_params p = {
 		.test_mem_size = DEFAULT_TEST_MEM_SIZE,
-		.src_type = VM_MEM_SRC_ANONYMOUS,
+		.src_type = DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC,
 	};
 	int opt;
 
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
index af1031fed97f..e487f798e095 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/test_util.c
@@ -279,13 +279,22 @@ size_t get_backing_src_pagesz(uint32_t i)
 	}
 }
 
-void backing_src_help(void)
+static void print_available_backing_src_types(const char *prefix)
 {
 	int i;
 
-	printf("Available backing src types:\n");
+	printf("%sAvailable backing src types:\n", prefix);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < NUM_SRC_TYPES; i++)
-		printf("\t%s\n", vm_mem_backing_src_alias(i)->name);
+		printf("%s    %s\n", prefix, vm_mem_backing_src_alias(i)->name);
+}
+
+void backing_src_help(const char *flag)
+{
+	printf(" %s: specify the type of memory that should be used to\n"
+	       "     back the guest data region. (default: %s)\n",
+	       flag, vm_mem_backing_src_alias(DEFAULT_VM_MEM_SRC)->name);
+	print_available_backing_src_types("     ");
 }
 
 enum vm_mem_backing_src_type parse_backing_src_type(const char *type_name)
@@ -296,7 +305,7 @@ enum vm_mem_backing_src_type parse_backing_src_type(const char *type_name)
 		if (!strcmp(type_name, vm_mem_backing_src_alias(i)->name))
 			return i;
 
-	backing_src_help();
+	print_available_backing_src_types("");
 	TEST_FAIL("Unknown backing src type: %s", type_name);
 	return -1;
 }
