diff --git a/docs/devel/testing.rst b/docs/devel/testing.rst
index 727c4019b5..b992a2961d 100644
--- a/docs/devel/testing.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/testing.rst
@@ -545,10 +545,31 @@ Tests based on ``avocado_qemu.Test`` can easily:
    - http://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/test/avocado.html#avocado.Test
    - http://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/utils/avocado.utils.html
 
-Installation
-------------
+Running tests
+-------------
 
-To install Avocado and its dependencies, run:
+You can run the acceptance tests simply by executing:
+
+.. code::
+
+  make check-acceptance
+
+This involves the automatic creation of Python virtual environment
+within the build tree (at ``tests/venv``) which will have all the
+right dependencies, and will save tests results also within the
+build tree (at ``tests/results``).
+
+Note: the build environment must be using a Python 3 stack, and have
+the ``venv`` and ``pip`` packages installed.  If necessary, make sure
+``configure`` is called with ``--python=`` and that those modules are
+available.  On Debian and Ubuntu based systems, depending on the
+specific version, they may be on packages named ``python3-venv`` and
+``python3-pip``.
+
+Manual Installation
+-------------------
+
+To manually install Avocado and its dependencies, run:
 
 .. code::
 
@@ -689,11 +710,15 @@ The exact QEMU binary to be used on QEMUMachine.
 Uninstalling Avocado
 --------------------
 
-If you've followed the installation instructions above, you can easily
-uninstall Avocado.  Start by listing the packages you have installed::
+If you've followed the manual installation instructions above, you can
+easily uninstall Avocado.  Start by listing the packages you have
+installed::
 
   pip list --user
 
 And remove any package you want with::
 
   pip uninstall <package_name>
+
+If you've used ``make check-acceptance``, the Python virtual environment where
+Avocado is installed will be cleaned up as part of ``make check-clean``.
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.include b/tests/Makefile.include
index 68af79927d..00fdf9913e 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/Makefile.include
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ check-help:
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-qapi-schema    Run QAPI schema tests"
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-block          Run block tests"
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-tcg            Run TCG tests"
+	@echo " $(MAKE) check-acceptance     Run all acceptance (functional) tests"
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-report.html    Generates an HTML test report"
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-venv           Creates a Python venv for tests"
 	@echo " $(MAKE) check-clean          Clean the tests"
@@ -1018,10 +1019,11 @@ check-decodetree:
 
 # Python venv for running tests
 
-.PHONY: check-venv
+.PHONY: check-venv check-acceptance
 
 TESTS_VENV_DIR=$(BUILD_DIR)/tests/venv
 TESTS_VENV_REQ=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/venv-requirements.txt
+TESTS_RESULTS_DIR=$(BUILD_DIR)/tests/results
 
 $(TESTS_VENV_DIR):
 	$(call quiet-command, \
@@ -1031,8 +1033,19 @@ $(TESTS_VENV_DIR):
             $(TESTS_VENV_DIR)/bin/pip -q install -r $(TESTS_VENV_REQ), \
             PIP, $(TESTS_VENV_REQ))
 
+$(TESTS_RESULTS_DIR):
+	$(call quiet-command, mkdir -p $@, \
+            MKDIR, $@)
+
 check-venv: $(TESTS_VENV_DIR)
 
+check-acceptance: check-venv $(TESTS_RESULTS_DIR)
+	$(call quiet-command, \
+            $(TESTS_VENV_DIR)/bin/python -m avocado \
+            --show=none run --job-results-dir=$(TESTS_RESULTS_DIR) --failfast=on \
+            $(SRC_PATH)/tests/acceptance, \
+            "AVOCADO", "tests/acceptance")
+
 # Consolidated targets
 
 .PHONY: check-qapi-schema check-qtest check-unit check check-clean
@@ -1046,7 +1059,7 @@ check-clean:
 	rm -rf $(check-unit-y) tests/*.o $(QEMU_IOTESTS_HELPERS-y)
 	rm -rf $(sort $(foreach target,$(SYSEMU_TARGET_LIST), $(check-qtest-$(target)-y)) $(check-qtest-generic-y))
 	rm -f tests/test-qapi-gen-timestamp
-	rm -rf $(TESTS_VENV_DIR)
+	rm -rf $(TESTS_VENV_DIR) $(TESTS_RESULTS_DIR)
 
 clean: check-clean
 
diff --git a/tests/venv-requirements.txt b/tests/venv-requirements.txt
index d39f9d1576..64c6e27a94 100644
--- a/tests/venv-requirements.txt
+++ b/tests/venv-requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 # Add Python module requirements, one per line, to be installed
 # in the tests/venv Python virtual environment. For more info,
 # refer to: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/user_guide/#id1
+avocado-framework==65.0
