diff --git a/block/qcow2.c b/block/qcow2.c
index 6162ed8be2..101b8b474b 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.c
+++ b/block/qcow2.c
@@ -695,6 +695,11 @@ static QemuOptsList qcow2_runtime_opts = {
             .type = QEMU_OPT_SIZE,
             .help = "Maximum L2 table cache size",
         },
+        {
+            .name = QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_FULL,
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
+            .help = "Create full coverage of the image with the L2 cache",
+        },
         {
             .name = QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_ENTRY_SIZE,
             .type = QEMU_OPT_SIZE,
@@ -779,10 +784,12 @@ static void read_cache_sizes(BlockDriverState *bs, QemuOpts *opts,
     BDRVQcow2State *s = bs->opaque;
     uint64_t combined_cache_size;
     bool l2_cache_size_set, refcount_cache_size_set, combined_cache_size_set;
+    bool l2_cache_full_set;
     int min_refcount_cache = MIN_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE * s->cluster_size;
 
     combined_cache_size_set = qemu_opt_get(opts, QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE);
     l2_cache_size_set = qemu_opt_get(opts, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE);
+    l2_cache_full_set = qemu_opt_get(opts, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_FULL);
     refcount_cache_size_set = qemu_opt_get(opts, QCOW2_OPT_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE);
 
     combined_cache_size = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE, 0);
@@ -793,15 +800,32 @@ static void read_cache_sizes(BlockDriverState *bs, QemuOpts *opts,
     *l2_cache_entry_size = qemu_opt_get_size(
         opts, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_ENTRY_SIZE, s->cluster_size);
 
+    uint64_t virtual_disk_size = bs->total_sectors * BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
+    uint64_t max_l2_cache = virtual_disk_size / (s->cluster_size / 8);
+
+    if (l2_cache_size_set && l2_cache_full_set) {
+        error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE " and "
+                   QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_FULL " may not be set at the same time");
+        return;
+    } else if (l2_cache_full_set) {
+        *l2_cache_size = max_l2_cache;
+    }
+
     if (combined_cache_size_set) {
         if (l2_cache_size_set && refcount_cache_size_set) {
             error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE ", " QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE
                        " and " QCOW2_OPT_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE " may not be set "
-                       "the same time");
+                       "at the same time");
             return;
         } else if (*l2_cache_size > combined_cache_size) {
-            error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE " may not exceed "
-                       QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE);
+            if (l2_cache_full_set) {
+                error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE " must be greater than "
+                           "the full L2 cache if " QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_FULL
+                           " is used");
+            } else {
+                error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE " may not exceed "
+                           QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE);
+            }
             return;
         } else if (*refcount_cache_size > combined_cache_size) {
             error_setg(errp, QCOW2_OPT_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE " may not exceed "
@@ -809,14 +833,11 @@ static void read_cache_sizes(BlockDriverState *bs, QemuOpts *opts,
             return;
         }
 
-        if (l2_cache_size_set) {
+        if (l2_cache_size_set || l2_cache_full_set) {
             *refcount_cache_size = combined_cache_size - *l2_cache_size;
         } else if (refcount_cache_size_set) {
             *l2_cache_size = combined_cache_size - *refcount_cache_size;
         } else {
-            uint64_t virtual_disk_size = bs->total_sectors * BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
-            uint64_t max_l2_cache = virtual_disk_size / (s->cluster_size / 8);
-
             /* Assign as much memory as possible to the L2 cache, and
              * use the remainder for the refcount cache */
             if (combined_cache_size >= max_l2_cache + min_refcount_cache) {
@@ -829,7 +850,7 @@ static void read_cache_sizes(BlockDriverState *bs, QemuOpts *opts,
             }
         }
     } else {
-        if (!l2_cache_size_set) {
+        if (!l2_cache_size_set && !l2_cache_full_set) {
             *l2_cache_size = MAX(DEFAULT_L2_CACHE_BYTE_SIZE,
                                  (uint64_t)DEFAULT_L2_CACHE_CLUSTERS
                                  * s->cluster_size);
diff --git a/block/qcow2.h b/block/qcow2.h
index 81b844e936..151e014bd8 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.h
+++ b/block/qcow2.h
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@
 #define QCOW2_OPT_OVERLAP_BITMAP_DIRECTORY "overlap-check.bitmap-directory"
 #define QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_SIZE "cache-size"
 #define QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_SIZE "l2-cache-size"
+#define QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_FULL "l2-cache-full"
 #define QCOW2_OPT_L2_CACHE_ENTRY_SIZE "l2-cache-entry-size"
 #define QCOW2_OPT_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE "refcount-cache-size"
 #define QCOW2_OPT_CACHE_CLEAN_INTERVAL "cache-clean-interval"
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index d40d5ecc3b..c584059e23 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -2812,7 +2812,12 @@
 #                         refcount block caches in bytes (since 2.2)
 #
 # @l2-cache-size:         the maximum size of the L2 table cache in
-#                         bytes (since 2.2)
+#                         bytes (mutually exclusive with l2-cache-full)
+#                         (since 2.2)
+#
+# @l2-cache-full:         make the L2 table cache large enough to cover the
+#                         entire image (mutually exclusive with l2-cache-size)
+#                         (since 3.1)
 #
 # @l2-cache-entry-size:   the size of each entry in the L2 cache in
 #                         bytes. It must be a power of two between 512
@@ -2840,6 +2845,7 @@
             '*overlap-check': 'Qcow2OverlapChecks',
             '*cache-size': 'int',
             '*l2-cache-size': 'int',
+            '*l2-cache-full': 'bool',
             '*l2-cache-entry-size': 'int',
             '*refcount-cache-size': 'int',
             '*cache-clean-interval': 'int',
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index b1bf0f485f..fec083f50e 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -752,15 +752,26 @@ image file)
 
 @item cache-size
 The maximum total size of the L2 table and refcount block caches in bytes
-(default: 1048576 bytes or 8 clusters, whichever is larger)
 
 @item l2-cache-size
-The maximum size of the L2 table cache in bytes
-(default: 4/5 of the total cache size)
+The maximum size of the L2 table cache in bytes (mutually exclusive with
+l2-cache-full) (default: if cache-size is not defined - 1048576 bytes or 8
+clusters, whichever is larger; if cache-size is defined and is large enough to
+accommodate enough L2 cache to cover the entire virtual size of the image plus
+the minimal amount of refcount cache - enough to cover the entire image;
+if cache-size is defined and is not large enough - as much as possible while
+leaving space for the needed refcount cache)
+
+@item l2-cache-full
+Make the L2 table cache large enough to cover the entire image (mutually
+exclusive with l2-cache-size) (on/off; default: off)
 
 @item refcount-cache-size
 The maximum size of the refcount block cache in bytes
-(default: 1/5 of the total cache size)
+(default: 4 times the cluster size, or if cache-size is defined and is large
+enough to accommodate enough L2 cache to cover the entire virtual size of the
+image plus the minimal amount of refcount cache - the part of cache-size which
+is left after allocating the full L2 cache)
 
 @item cache-clean-interval
 Clean unused entries in the L2 and refcount caches. The interval is in seconds.
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/103 b/tests/qemu-iotests/103
index 2841318492..a2886e8569 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/103
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/103
@@ -52,9 +52,15 @@ echo
 echo '=== Testing invalid option combinations ==='
 echo
 
+# l2-cache-size and l2-cache-full at the same time
+$QEMU_IO -c "open -o l2-cache-full,l2-cache-size=1M $TEST_IMG" 2>&1 |
+    _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
 # all sizes set at the same time
 $QEMU_IO -c "open -o cache-size=1.25M,l2-cache-size=1M,refcount-cache-size=0.25M $TEST_IMG" \
     2>&1 | _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
+# cache-size may not be smaller than the full L2 size if l2-cache-full is used
+$QEMU_IO -c "open -o l2-cache-full,cache-size=6K $TEST_IMG" 2>&1 |
+    _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
 # l2-cache-size may not exceed cache-size
 $QEMU_IO -c "open -o cache-size=1M,l2-cache-size=2M $TEST_IMG" 2>&1 \
     | _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/103.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/103.out
index bd45d3875a..92afbff024 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/103.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/103.out
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ wrote 65536/65536 bytes at offset 0
 
 === Testing invalid option combinations ===
 
-can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: cache-size, l2-cache-size and refcount-cache-size may not be set the same time
+can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: l2-cache-full and l2-cache-size may not be set at the same time
+can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: cache-size, l2-cache-size and refcount-cache-size may not be set at the same time
+can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: cache-size must be greater than the full L2 cache if l2-cache-full is used
 can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: l2-cache-size may not exceed cache-size
 can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: refcount-cache-size may not exceed cache-size
 can't open device TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT: cache-size, l2-cache-size and refcount-cache-size may not be set the same time
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/137 b/tests/qemu-iotests/137
index 87965625d8..f460b5bfe1 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/137
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/137
@@ -106,7 +106,9 @@ echo
 
 $QEMU_IO \
     -c "reopen -o lazy-refcounts=42" \
+    -c "reopen -o l2-cache-full,l2-cache-size=64k" \
     -c "reopen -o cache-size=1M,l2-cache-size=64k,refcount-cache-size=64k" \
+    -c "reopen -o l2-cache-full,cache-size=6K" \
     -c "reopen -o cache-size=1M,l2-cache-size=2M" \
     -c "reopen -o cache-size=1M,refcount-cache-size=2M" \
     -c "reopen -o l2-cache-size=256T" \
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
index 96724a6c33..b15dfc391a 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/137.out
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ read 33554432/33554432 bytes at offset 0
 === Try setting some invalid values ===
 
 Parameter 'lazy-refcounts' expects 'on' or 'off'
-cache-size, l2-cache-size and refcount-cache-size may not be set the same time
+l2-cache-full and l2-cache-size may not be set at the same time
+cache-size, l2-cache-size and refcount-cache-size may not be set at the same time
+cache-size must be greater than the full L2 cache if l2-cache-full is used
 l2-cache-size may not exceed cache-size
 refcount-cache-size may not exceed cache-size
 L2 cache size too big
