diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 101eb50619..4f0cc1e448 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2520,6 +2520,7 @@ F: block/reqlist.c
 F: include/block/reqlist.h
 F: block/copy-before-write.h
 F: block/copy-before-write.c
+F: block/snapshot-access.c
 F: include/block/aio_task.h
 F: block/aio_task.c
 F: util/qemu-co-shared-resource.c
diff --git a/block/meson.build b/block/meson.build
index 553b8eddbc..0b2a60c99b 100644
--- a/block/meson.build
+++ b/block/meson.build
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ block_ss.add(files(
   'raw-format.c',
   'reqlist.c',
   'snapshot.c',
+  'snapshot-access.c',
   'throttle-groups.c',
   'throttle.c',
   'vhdx-endian.c',
diff --git a/block/snapshot-access.c b/block/snapshot-access.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..77b87c1946
--- /dev/null
+++ b/block/snapshot-access.c
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+/*
+ * snapshot_access block driver
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Virtuozzo International GmbH.
+ *
+ * Author:
+ *  Sementsov-Ogievskiy Vladimir <vsementsov@virtuozzo.com>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+
+#include "sysemu/block-backend.h"
+#include "qemu/cutils.h"
+#include "block/block_int.h"
+
+static coroutine_fn int
+snapshot_access_co_preadv_part(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                               int64_t offset, int64_t bytes,
+                               QEMUIOVector *qiov, size_t qiov_offset,
+                               BdrvRequestFlags flags)
+{
+    if (flags) {
+        return -ENOTSUP;
+    }
+
+    return bdrv_co_preadv_snapshot(bs->file, offset, bytes, qiov, qiov_offset);
+}
+
+static int coroutine_fn
+snapshot_access_co_block_status(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                bool want_zero, int64_t offset,
+                                int64_t bytes, int64_t *pnum,
+                                int64_t *map, BlockDriverState **file)
+{
+    return bdrv_co_snapshot_block_status(bs->file->bs, want_zero, offset,
+                                         bytes, pnum, map, file);
+}
+
+static int coroutine_fn snapshot_access_co_pdiscard(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                             int64_t offset, int64_t bytes)
+{
+    return bdrv_co_pdiscard_snapshot(bs->file->bs, offset, bytes);
+}
+
+static int coroutine_fn
+snapshot_access_co_pwrite_zeroes(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                 int64_t offset, int64_t bytes,
+                                 BdrvRequestFlags flags)
+{
+    return -ENOTSUP;
+}
+
+static coroutine_fn int
+snapshot_access_co_pwritev_part(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                int64_t offset, int64_t bytes,
+                                QEMUIOVector *qiov, size_t qiov_offset,
+                                BdrvRequestFlags flags)
+{
+    return -ENOTSUP;
+}
+
+
+static void snapshot_access_refresh_filename(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    pstrcpy(bs->exact_filename, sizeof(bs->exact_filename),
+            bs->file->bs->filename);
+}
+
+static int snapshot_access_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
+                                Error **errp)
+{
+    bs->file = bdrv_open_child(NULL, options, "file", bs, &child_of_bds,
+                               BDRV_CHILD_DATA | BDRV_CHILD_PRIMARY,
+                               false, errp);
+    if (!bs->file) {
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+
+    bs->total_sectors = bs->file->bs->total_sectors;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static void snapshot_access_child_perm(BlockDriverState *bs, BdrvChild *c,
+                                BdrvChildRole role,
+                                BlockReopenQueue *reopen_queue,
+                                uint64_t perm, uint64_t shared,
+                                uint64_t *nperm, uint64_t *nshared)
+{
+    /*
+     * Currently, we don't need any permissions. If bs->file provides
+     * snapshot-access API, we can use it.
+     */
+    *nperm = 0;
+    *nshared = BLK_PERM_ALL;
+}
+
+BlockDriver bdrv_snapshot_access_drv = {
+    .format_name = "snapshot-access",
+
+    .bdrv_open                  = snapshot_access_open,
+
+    .bdrv_co_preadv_part        = snapshot_access_co_preadv_part,
+    .bdrv_co_pwritev_part       = snapshot_access_co_pwritev_part,
+    .bdrv_co_pwrite_zeroes      = snapshot_access_co_pwrite_zeroes,
+    .bdrv_co_pdiscard           = snapshot_access_co_pdiscard,
+    .bdrv_co_block_status       = snapshot_access_co_block_status,
+
+    .bdrv_refresh_filename      = snapshot_access_refresh_filename,
+
+    .bdrv_child_perm            = snapshot_access_child_perm,
+};
+
+static void snapshot_access_init(void)
+{
+    bdrv_register(&bdrv_snapshot_access_drv);
+}
+
+block_init(snapshot_access_init);
diff --git a/include/block/block_int-common.h b/include/block/block_int-common.h
index 4ba04d0cc6..8947abab76 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int-common.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int-common.h
@@ -606,6 +606,12 @@ struct BlockDriver {
      * in generic block-layer: no serializing, no alignment, no tracked
      * requests. So, block-driver that realizes these APIs is fully responsible
      * for synchronization between snapshot-access API and normal IO requests.
+     *
+     * TODO: To be able to support qcow2's internal snapshots, this API will
+     * need to be extended to:
+     * - be able to select a specific snapshot
+     * - receive the snapshot's actual length (which may differ from bs's
+     *   length)
      */
     int coroutine_fn (*bdrv_co_preadv_snapshot)(BlockDriverState *bs,
         int64_t offset, int64_t bytes, QEMUIOVector *qiov, size_t qiov_offset);
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index ffb7aea2a5..f13b5ff942 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -2914,13 +2914,14 @@
 # @blkreplay: Since 4.2
 # @compress: Since 5.0
 # @copy-before-write: Since 6.2
+# @snapshot-access: Since 7.0
 #
 # Since: 2.9
 ##
 { 'enum': 'BlockdevDriver',
   'data': [ 'blkdebug', 'blklogwrites', 'blkreplay', 'blkverify', 'bochs',
             'cloop', 'compress', 'copy-before-write', 'copy-on-read', 'dmg',
-            'file', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'gluster',
+            'file', 'snapshot-access', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'gluster',
             {'name': 'host_cdrom', 'if': 'HAVE_HOST_BLOCK_DEVICE' },
             {'name': 'host_device', 'if': 'HAVE_HOST_BLOCK_DEVICE' },
             'http', 'https', 'iscsi',
@@ -4267,6 +4268,7 @@
       'rbd':        'BlockdevOptionsRbd',
       'replication': { 'type': 'BlockdevOptionsReplication',
                        'if': 'CONFIG_REPLICATION' },
+      'snapshot-access': 'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
       'ssh':        'BlockdevOptionsSsh',
       'throttle':   'BlockdevOptionsThrottle',
       'vdi':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',