diff --git a/tests/qtest/meson.build b/tests/qtest/meson.build
index 9ad9f0dc65..5e77eb09f2 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/meson.build
+++ b/tests/qtest/meson.build
@@ -335,6 +335,7 @@ migration_files = [files(
   'migration/test-framework.c',
   'migration/migration-qmp.c',
   'migration/migration-util.c',
+  'migration/compression-tests.c',
 )]
 
 migration_tls_files = []
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration-test.c b/tests/qtest/migration-test.c
index 1cd14529a1..4a468079e8 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration-test.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration-test.c
@@ -274,36 +274,6 @@ static void test_ignore_shared(void)
 }
 #endif
 
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_xbzrle(QTestState *from,
-                          QTestState *to)
-{
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "xbzrle-cache-size", 33554432);
-
-    migrate_set_capability(from, "xbzrle", true);
-    migrate_set_capability(to, "xbzrle", true);
-
-    return NULL;
-}
-
-static void test_precopy_unix_xbzrle(void)
-{
-    g_autofree char *uri = g_strdup_printf("unix:%s/migsocket", tmpfs);
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .connect_uri = uri,
-        .listen_uri = uri,
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_xbzrle,
-        .iterations = 2,
-        /*
-         * XBZRLE needs pages to be modified when doing the 2nd+ round
-         * iteration to have real data pushed to the stream.
-         */
-        .live = true,
-    };
-
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-
 static void test_precopy_file(void)
 {
     g_autofree char *uri = g_strdup_printf("file:%s/%s", tmpfs,
@@ -1011,61 +981,6 @@ test_migration_precopy_tcp_multifd_no_zero_page_start(QTestState *from,
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib(QTestState *from,
-                                            QTestState *to)
-{
-    /*
-     * Overloading this test to also check that set_parameter does not error.
-     * This is also done in the tests for the other compression methods.
-     */
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
-
-    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "zlib");
-}
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_ZSTD
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zstd(QTestState *from,
-                                            QTestState *to)
-{
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-zstd-level", 2);
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-zstd-level", 2);
-
-    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "zstd");
-}
-#endif /* CONFIG_ZSTD */
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_QATZIP
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qatzip(QTestState *from,
-                                              QTestState *to)
-{
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-qatzip-level", 2);
-    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-qatzip-level", 2);
-
-    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "qatzip");
-}
-#endif
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_QPL
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qpl(QTestState *from,
-                                           QTestState *to)
-{
-    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "qpl");
-}
-#endif /* CONFIG_QPL */
-#ifdef CONFIG_UADK
-static void *
-migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_uadk(QTestState *from,
-                                            QTestState *to)
-{
-    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "uadk");
-}
-#endif /* CONFIG_UADK */
-
 static void test_multifd_tcp_uri_none(void)
 {
     MigrateCommon args = {
@@ -1126,59 +1041,6 @@ static void test_multifd_tcp_channels_none(void)
     test_precopy_common(&args);
 }
 
-static void test_multifd_tcp_zlib(void)
-{
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .listen_uri = "defer",
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib,
-    };
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_ZSTD
-static void test_multifd_tcp_zstd(void)
-{
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .listen_uri = "defer",
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zstd,
-    };
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-#endif
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_QATZIP
-static void test_multifd_tcp_qatzip(void)
-{
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .listen_uri = "defer",
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qatzip,
-    };
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-#endif
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_QPL
-static void test_multifd_tcp_qpl(void)
-{
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .listen_uri = "defer",
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qpl,
-    };
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-#endif
-
-#ifdef CONFIG_UADK
-static void test_multifd_tcp_uadk(void)
-{
-    MigrateCommon args = {
-        .listen_uri = "defer",
-        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_uadk,
-    };
-    test_precopy_common(&args);
-}
-#endif
-
 /*
  * This test does:
  *  source               target
@@ -1690,6 +1552,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     tmpfs = env->tmpfs;
 
     migration_test_add_tls(env);
+    migration_test_add_compression(env);
 
     migration_test_add("/migration/bad_dest", test_baddest);
 #ifndef _WIN32
@@ -1723,10 +1586,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     migration_test_add("/migration/precopy/unix/plain",
                        test_precopy_unix_plain);
-    if (g_test_slow()) {
-        migration_test_add("/migration/precopy/unix/xbzrle",
-                           test_precopy_unix_xbzrle);
-    }
     migration_test_add("/migration/precopy/file",
                        test_precopy_file);
     migration_test_add("/migration/precopy/file/offset",
@@ -1811,24 +1670,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
                        test_multifd_tcp_no_zero_page);
     migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/cancel",
                        test_multifd_tcp_cancel);
-    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/zlib",
-                       test_multifd_tcp_zlib);
-#ifdef CONFIG_ZSTD
-    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/zstd",
-                       test_multifd_tcp_zstd);
-#endif
-#ifdef CONFIG_QATZIP
-    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/qatzip",
-                       test_multifd_tcp_qatzip);
-#endif
-#ifdef CONFIG_QPL
-    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/qpl",
-                       test_multifd_tcp_qpl);
-#endif
-#ifdef CONFIG_UADK
-    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/uadk",
-                       test_multifd_tcp_uadk);
-#endif
 
     if (g_str_equal(env->arch, "x86_64") &&
         env->has_kvm && env->has_dirty_ring) {
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/compression-tests.c b/tests/qtest/migration/compression-tests.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b4c59338c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/compression-tests.c
@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+/*
+ * QTest testcases for migration compression
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016-2018 Red Hat, Inc. and/or its affiliates
+ *   based on the vhost-user-test.c that is:
+ *      Copyright (c) 2014 Virtual Open Systems Sarl.
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "libqtest.h"
+#include "migration/migration-qmp.h"
+#include "migration/migration-util.h"
+#include "migration/test-framework.h"
+#include "qemu/module.h"
+
+
+static char *tmpfs;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_ZSTD
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zstd(QTestState *from,
+                                            QTestState *to)
+{
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-zstd-level", 2);
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-zstd-level", 2);
+
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "zstd");
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_zstd(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zstd,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_ZSTD */
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_QATZIP
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qatzip(QTestState *from,
+                                              QTestState *to)
+{
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-qatzip-level", 2);
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-qatzip-level", 2);
+
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "qatzip");
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_qatzip(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qatzip,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_QPL
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qpl(QTestState *from,
+                                           QTestState *to)
+{
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "qpl");
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_qpl(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_qpl,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_QPL */
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_UADK
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_uadk(QTestState *from,
+                                            QTestState *to)
+{
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "uadk");
+}
+
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_xbzrle(QTestState *from,
+                          QTestState *to)
+{
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "xbzrle-cache-size", 33554432);
+
+    migrate_set_capability(from, "xbzrle", true);
+    migrate_set_capability(to, "xbzrle", true);
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static void test_precopy_unix_xbzrle(void)
+{
+    g_autofree char *uri = g_strdup_printf("unix:%s/migsocket", tmpfs);
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .connect_uri = uri,
+        .listen_uri = uri,
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_xbzrle,
+        .iterations = 2,
+        /*
+         * XBZRLE needs pages to be modified when doing the 2nd+ round
+         * iteration to have real data pushed to the stream.
+         */
+        .live = true,
+    };
+
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib(QTestState *from,
+                                            QTestState *to)
+{
+    /*
+     * Overloading this test to also check that set_parameter does not error.
+     * This is also done in the tests for the other compression methods.
+     */
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
+
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "zlib");
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_zlib(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_uadk(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_uadk,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_UADK */
+
+
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_xbzrle(QTestState *from,
+                          QTestState *to)
+{
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "xbzrle-cache-size", 33554432);
+
+    migrate_set_capability(from, "xbzrle", true);
+    migrate_set_capability(to, "xbzrle", true);
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static void test_precopy_unix_xbzrle(void)
+{
+    g_autofree char *uri = g_strdup_printf("unix:%s/migsocket", tmpfs);
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .connect_uri = uri,
+        .listen_uri = uri,
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_xbzrle,
+        .iterations = 2,
+        /*
+         * XBZRLE needs pages to be modified when doing the 2nd+ round
+         * iteration to have real data pushed to the stream.
+         */
+        .live = true,
+    };
+
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+
+static void *
+migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib(QTestState *from,
+                                            QTestState *to)
+{
+    /*
+     * Overloading this test to also check that set_parameter does not error.
+     * This is also done in the tests for the other compression methods.
+     */
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(from, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
+    migrate_set_parameter_int(to, "multifd-zlib-level", 2);
+
+    return migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_common(from, to, "zlib");
+}
+
+static void test_multifd_tcp_zlib(void)
+{
+    MigrateCommon args = {
+        .listen_uri = "defer",
+        .start_hook = migrate_hook_start_precopy_tcp_multifd_zlib,
+    };
+    test_precopy_common(&args);
+}
+
+void migration_test_add_compression(MigrationTestEnv *env)
+{
+    tmpfs = env->tmpfs;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_ZSTD
+    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/zstd",
+                       test_multifd_tcp_zstd);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_QATZIP
+    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/qatzip",
+                       test_multifd_tcp_qatzip);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_QPL
+    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/qpl",
+                       test_multifd_tcp_qpl);
+#endif
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_UADK
+    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/uadk",
+                       test_multifd_tcp_uadk);
+#endif
+
+    if (g_test_slow()) {
+        migration_test_add("/migration/precopy/unix/xbzrle",
+                           test_precopy_unix_xbzrle);
+    }
+
+    migration_test_add("/migration/multifd/tcp/plain/zlib",
+                       test_multifd_tcp_zlib);
+}
diff --git a/tests/qtest/migration/test-framework.h b/tests/qtest/migration/test-framework.h
index c9008a3227..0f16f37426 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/migration/test-framework.h
+++ b/tests/qtest/migration/test-framework.h
@@ -218,5 +218,6 @@ void migration_test_add_tls(MigrationTestEnv *env);
 #else
 static inline void migration_test_add_tls(MigrationTestEnv *env) {};
 #endif
+void migration_test_add_compression(MigrationTestEnv *env);
 
 #endif /* TEST_FRAMEWORK_H */
