diff --git a/include/migration/migration.h b/include/migration/migration.h
index bd399fc0df..401fbe1f77 100644
--- a/include/migration/migration.h
+++ b/include/migration/migration.h
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@ int migrate_add_blocker(Error *reason, Error **errp);
  */
 void migrate_del_blocker(Error *reason);
 
+bool migrate_release_ram(void);
 bool migrate_postcopy_ram(void);
 bool migrate_zero_blocks(void);
 
diff --git a/include/migration/qemu-file.h b/include/migration/qemu-file.h
index abedd466c9..0cd648a733 100644
--- a/include/migration/qemu-file.h
+++ b/include/migration/qemu-file.h
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ void qemu_put_byte(QEMUFile *f, int v);
  * put_buffer without copying the buffer.
  * The buffer should be available till it is sent asynchronously.
  */
-void qemu_put_buffer_async(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size);
+void qemu_put_buffer_async(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size,
+                           bool may_free);
 bool qemu_file_mode_is_not_valid(const char *mode);
 bool qemu_file_is_writable(QEMUFile *f);
 
diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index 1ae68be0c7..8d5a5f8a6e 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -1302,6 +1302,15 @@ void qmp_migrate_set_downtime(double value, Error **errp)
     qmp_migrate_set_parameters(&p, errp);
 }
 
+bool migrate_release_ram(void)
+{
+    MigrationState *s;
+
+    s = migrate_get_current();
+
+    return s->enabled_capabilities[MIGRATION_CAPABILITY_RELEASE_RAM];
+}
+
 bool migrate_postcopy_ram(void)
 {
     MigrationState *s;
diff --git a/migration/qemu-file.c b/migration/qemu-file.c
index e9fae31158..82dbef3c86 100644
--- a/migration/qemu-file.c
+++ b/migration/qemu-file.c
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ struct QEMUFile {
     int buf_size; /* 0 when writing */
     uint8_t buf[IO_BUF_SIZE];
 
+    DECLARE_BITMAP(may_free, MAX_IOV_SIZE);
     struct iovec iov[MAX_IOV_SIZE];
     unsigned int iovcnt;
 
@@ -132,6 +133,41 @@ bool qemu_file_is_writable(QEMUFile *f)
     return f->ops->writev_buffer;
 }
 
+static void qemu_iovec_release_ram(QEMUFile *f)
+{
+    struct iovec iov;
+    unsigned long idx;
+
+    /* Find and release all the contiguous memory ranges marked as may_free. */
+    idx = find_next_bit(f->may_free, f->iovcnt, 0);
+    if (idx >= f->iovcnt) {
+        return;
+    }
+    iov = f->iov[idx];
+
+    /* The madvise() in the loop is called for iov within a continuous range and
+     * then reinitialize the iov. And in the end, madvise() is called for the
+     * last iov.
+     */
+    while ((idx = find_next_bit(f->may_free, f->iovcnt, idx + 1)) < f->iovcnt) {
+        /* check for adjacent buffer and coalesce them */
+        if (iov.iov_base + iov.iov_len == f->iov[idx].iov_base) {
+            iov.iov_len += f->iov[idx].iov_len;
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (qemu_madvise(iov.iov_base, iov.iov_len, QEMU_MADV_DONTNEED) < 0) {
+            error_report("migrate: madvise DONTNEED failed %p %ld: %s",
+                         iov.iov_base, iov.iov_len, strerror(errno));
+        }
+        iov = f->iov[idx];
+    }
+    if (qemu_madvise(iov.iov_base, iov.iov_len, QEMU_MADV_DONTNEED) < 0) {
+            error_report("migrate: madvise DONTNEED failed %p %ld: %s",
+                         iov.iov_base, iov.iov_len, strerror(errno));
+    }
+    memset(f->may_free, 0, sizeof(f->may_free));
+}
+
 /**
  * Flushes QEMUFile buffer
  *
@@ -151,6 +187,8 @@ void qemu_fflush(QEMUFile *f)
     if (f->iovcnt > 0) {
         expect = iov_size(f->iov, f->iovcnt);
         ret = f->ops->writev_buffer(f->opaque, f->iov, f->iovcnt, f->pos);
+
+        qemu_iovec_release_ram(f);
     }
 
     if (ret >= 0) {
@@ -304,13 +342,19 @@ int qemu_fclose(QEMUFile *f)
     return ret;
 }
 
-static void add_to_iovec(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size)
+static void add_to_iovec(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size,
+                         bool may_free)
 {
     /* check for adjacent buffer and coalesce them */
     if (f->iovcnt > 0 && buf == f->iov[f->iovcnt - 1].iov_base +
-        f->iov[f->iovcnt - 1].iov_len) {
+        f->iov[f->iovcnt - 1].iov_len &&
+        may_free == test_bit(f->iovcnt - 1, f->may_free))
+    {
         f->iov[f->iovcnt - 1].iov_len += size;
     } else {
+        if (may_free) {
+            set_bit(f->iovcnt, f->may_free);
+        }
         f->iov[f->iovcnt].iov_base = (uint8_t *)buf;
         f->iov[f->iovcnt++].iov_len = size;
     }
@@ -320,14 +364,15 @@ static void add_to_iovec(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size)
     }
 }
 
-void qemu_put_buffer_async(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size)
+void qemu_put_buffer_async(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size,
+                           bool may_free)
 {
     if (f->last_error) {
         return;
     }
 
     f->bytes_xfer += size;
-    add_to_iovec(f, buf, size);
+    add_to_iovec(f, buf, size, may_free);
 }
 
 void qemu_put_buffer(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size)
@@ -345,7 +390,7 @@ void qemu_put_buffer(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *buf, size_t size)
         }
         memcpy(f->buf + f->buf_index, buf, l);
         f->bytes_xfer += l;
-        add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, l);
+        add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, l, false);
         f->buf_index += l;
         if (f->buf_index == IO_BUF_SIZE) {
             qemu_fflush(f);
@@ -366,7 +411,7 @@ void qemu_put_byte(QEMUFile *f, int v)
 
     f->buf[f->buf_index] = v;
     f->bytes_xfer++;
-    add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, 1);
+    add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, 1, false);
     f->buf_index++;
     if (f->buf_index == IO_BUF_SIZE) {
         qemu_fflush(f);
@@ -647,7 +692,7 @@ ssize_t qemu_put_compression_data(QEMUFile *f, const uint8_t *p, size_t size,
     }
     qemu_put_be32(f, blen);
     if (f->ops->writev_buffer) {
-        add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, blen);
+        add_to_iovec(f, f->buf + f->buf_index, blen, false);
     }
     f->buf_index += blen;
     if (f->buf_index == IO_BUF_SIZE) {
diff --git a/migration/ram.c b/migration/ram.c
index d866b6518b..5a43f716d1 100644
--- a/migration/ram.c
+++ b/migration/ram.c
@@ -726,6 +726,16 @@ static int save_zero_page(QEMUFile *f, RAMBlock *block, ram_addr_t offset,
     return pages;
 }
 
+static void ram_release_pages(MigrationState *ms, const char *block_name,
+                              uint64_t offset, int pages)
+{
+    if (!migrate_release_ram() || !migration_in_postcopy(ms)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    ram_discard_range(NULL, block_name, offset, pages << TARGET_PAGE_BITS);
+}
+
 /**
  * ram_save_page: Send the given page to the stream
  *
@@ -786,6 +796,7 @@ static int ram_save_page(MigrationState *ms, QEMUFile *f, PageSearchStatus *pss,
              * page would be stale
              */
             xbzrle_cache_zero_page(current_addr);
+            ram_release_pages(ms, block->idstr, pss->offset, pages);
         } else if (!ram_bulk_stage &&
                    !migration_in_postcopy(ms) && migrate_use_xbzrle()) {
             pages = save_xbzrle_page(f, &p, current_addr, block,
@@ -804,7 +815,9 @@ static int ram_save_page(MigrationState *ms, QEMUFile *f, PageSearchStatus *pss,
         *bytes_transferred += save_page_header(f, block,
                                                offset | RAM_SAVE_FLAG_PAGE);
         if (send_async) {
-            qemu_put_buffer_async(f, p, TARGET_PAGE_SIZE);
+            qemu_put_buffer_async(f, p, TARGET_PAGE_SIZE,
+                                  migrate_release_ram() &
+                                  migration_in_postcopy(ms));
         } else {
             qemu_put_buffer(f, p, TARGET_PAGE_SIZE);
         }
@@ -834,6 +847,8 @@ static int do_compress_ram_page(QEMUFile *f, RAMBlock *block,
         error_report("compressed data failed!");
     } else {
         bytes_sent += blen;
+        ram_release_pages(migrate_get_current(), block->idstr,
+                          offset & TARGET_PAGE_MASK, 1);
     }
 
     return bytes_sent;
@@ -973,12 +988,17 @@ static int ram_save_compressed_page(MigrationState *ms, QEMUFile *f,
                     error_report("compressed data failed!");
                 }
             }
+            if (pages > 0) {
+                ram_release_pages(ms, block->idstr, pss->offset, pages);
+            }
         } else {
             offset |= RAM_SAVE_FLAG_CONTINUE;
             pages = save_zero_page(f, block, offset, p, bytes_transferred);
             if (pages == -1) {
                 pages = compress_page_with_multi_thread(f, block, offset,
                                                         bytes_transferred);
+            } else {
+                ram_release_pages(ms, block->idstr, pss->offset, pages);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index 82fabc6e24..e58228d083 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -865,11 +865,14 @@
 #        side, this process is called COarse-Grain LOck Stepping (COLO) for
 #        Non-stop Service. (since 2.8)
 #
+# @release-ram: if enabled, qemu will free the migrated ram pages on the source
+#        during postcopy-ram migration. (since 2.9)
+#
 # Since: 1.2
 ##
 { 'enum': 'MigrationCapability',
   'data': ['xbzrle', 'rdma-pin-all', 'auto-converge', 'zero-blocks',
-           'compress', 'events', 'postcopy-ram', 'x-colo'] }
+           'compress', 'events', 'postcopy-ram', 'x-colo', 'release-ram'] }
 
 ##
 # @MigrationCapabilityStatus:
