diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util_base.h b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util_base.h
index d9dc31af2f96..a82149305349 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util_base.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/include/kvm_util_base.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ typedef uint64_t vm_vaddr_t; /* Virtual Machine (Guest) virtual address */
 struct userspace_mem_region {
 	struct kvm_userspace_memory_region2 region;
 	struct sparsebit *unused_phy_pages;
+	struct sparsebit *protected_phy_pages;
 	int fd;
 	off_t offset;
 	enum vm_mem_backing_src_type backing_src_type;
@@ -573,6 +574,13 @@ void vm_mem_add(struct kvm_vm *vm, enum vm_mem_backing_src_type src_type,
 		uint64_t guest_paddr, uint32_t slot, uint64_t npages,
 		uint32_t flags, int guest_memfd_fd, uint64_t guest_memfd_offset);
 
+#ifndef vm_arch_has_protected_memory
+static inline bool vm_arch_has_protected_memory(struct kvm_vm *vm)
+{
+	return false;
+}
+#endif
+
 void vm_mem_region_set_flags(struct kvm_vm *vm, uint32_t slot, uint32_t flags);
 void vm_mem_region_move(struct kvm_vm *vm, uint32_t slot, uint64_t new_gpa);
 void vm_mem_region_delete(struct kvm_vm *vm, uint32_t slot);
@@ -836,10 +844,23 @@ const char *exit_reason_str(unsigned int exit_reason);
 
 vm_paddr_t vm_phy_page_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, vm_paddr_t paddr_min,
 			     uint32_t memslot);
-vm_paddr_t vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
-			      vm_paddr_t paddr_min, uint32_t memslot);
+vm_paddr_t __vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
+				vm_paddr_t paddr_min, uint32_t memslot,
+				bool protected);
 vm_paddr_t vm_alloc_page_table(struct kvm_vm *vm);
 
+static inline vm_paddr_t vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
+					    vm_paddr_t paddr_min, uint32_t memslot)
+{
+	/*
+	 * By default, allocate memory as protected for VMs that support
+	 * protected memory, as the majority of memory for such VMs is
+	 * protected, i.e. using shared memory is effectively opt-in.
+	 */
+	return __vm_phy_pages_alloc(vm, num, paddr_min, memslot,
+				    vm_arch_has_protected_memory(vm));
+}
+
 /*
  * ____vm_create() does KVM_CREATE_VM and little else.  __vm_create() also
  * loads the test binary into guest memory and creates an IRQ chip (x86 only).
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/kvm_util.c b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/kvm_util.c
index a53caf81eb87..ea677aa019ef 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/kvm_util.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/kvm/lib/kvm_util.c
@@ -717,6 +717,7 @@ static void __vm_mem_region_delete(struct kvm_vm *vm,
 	vm_ioctl(vm, KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION2, &region->region);
 
 	sparsebit_free(&region->unused_phy_pages);
+	sparsebit_free(&region->protected_phy_pages);
 	ret = munmap(region->mmap_start, region->mmap_size);
 	TEST_ASSERT(!ret, __KVM_SYSCALL_ERROR("munmap()", ret));
 	if (region->fd >= 0) {
@@ -1098,6 +1099,8 @@ void vm_mem_add(struct kvm_vm *vm, enum vm_mem_backing_src_type src_type,
 	}
 
 	region->unused_phy_pages = sparsebit_alloc();
+	if (vm_arch_has_protected_memory(vm))
+		region->protected_phy_pages = sparsebit_alloc();
 	sparsebit_set_num(region->unused_phy_pages,
 		guest_paddr >> vm->page_shift, npages);
 	region->region.slot = slot;
@@ -1924,6 +1927,10 @@ void vm_dump(FILE *stream, struct kvm_vm *vm, uint8_t indent)
 			region->host_mem);
 		fprintf(stream, "%*sunused_phy_pages: ", indent + 2, "");
 		sparsebit_dump(stream, region->unused_phy_pages, 0);
+		if (region->protected_phy_pages) {
+			fprintf(stream, "%*sprotected_phy_pages: ", indent + 2, "");
+			sparsebit_dump(stream, region->protected_phy_pages, 0);
+		}
 	}
 	fprintf(stream, "%*sMapped Virtual Pages:\n", indent, "");
 	sparsebit_dump(stream, vm->vpages_mapped, indent + 2);
@@ -2025,6 +2032,7 @@ const char *exit_reason_str(unsigned int exit_reason)
  *   num - number of pages
  *   paddr_min - Physical address minimum
  *   memslot - Memory region to allocate page from
+ *   protected - True if the pages will be used as protected/private memory
  *
  * Output Args: None
  *
@@ -2036,8 +2044,9 @@ const char *exit_reason_str(unsigned int exit_reason)
  * and their base address is returned. A TEST_ASSERT failure occurs if
  * not enough pages are available at or above paddr_min.
  */
-vm_paddr_t vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
-			      vm_paddr_t paddr_min, uint32_t memslot)
+vm_paddr_t __vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
+				vm_paddr_t paddr_min, uint32_t memslot,
+				bool protected)
 {
 	struct userspace_mem_region *region;
 	sparsebit_idx_t pg, base;
@@ -2050,8 +2059,10 @@ vm_paddr_t vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
 		paddr_min, vm->page_size);
 
 	region = memslot2region(vm, memslot);
+	TEST_ASSERT(!protected || region->protected_phy_pages,
+		    "Region doesn't support protected memory");
+
 	base = pg = paddr_min >> vm->page_shift;
-
 	do {
 		for (; pg < base + num; ++pg) {
 			if (!sparsebit_is_set(region->unused_phy_pages, pg)) {
@@ -2070,8 +2081,11 @@ vm_paddr_t vm_phy_pages_alloc(struct kvm_vm *vm, size_t num,
 		abort();
 	}
 
-	for (pg = base; pg < base + num; ++pg)
+	for (pg = base; pg < base + num; ++pg) {
 		sparsebit_clear(region->unused_phy_pages, pg);
+		if (protected)
+			sparsebit_set(region->protected_phy_pages, pg);
+	}
 
 	return base * vm->page_size;
 }
