diff --git a/test/bdev/bdevperf/bdevperf.c b/test/bdev/bdevperf/bdevperf.c
index 6a6f83a80..19b627a94 100644
--- a/test/bdev/bdevperf/bdevperf.c
+++ b/test/bdev/bdevperf/bdevperf.c
@@ -1384,6 +1384,8 @@ bdevperf_parse_arg(int ch, char *arg)
 		g_job_bdev_name = optarg;
 	} else if (ch == 'z') {
 		g_wait_for_tests = true;
+	} else if (ch == 'x') {
+		g_zcopy = false;
 	} else if (ch == 'C') {
 		g_multithread_mode = true;
 	} else if (ch == 'f') {
@@ -1441,6 +1443,7 @@ bdevperf_usage(void)
 	printf(" -S <period>               show performance result in real time every <period> seconds\n");
 	printf(" -T <bdev>                 bdev to run against. Default: all available bdevs.\n");
 	printf(" -f                        continue processing I/O even after failures\n");
+	printf(" -x                        disable using zcopy bdev API for read or write I/O\n");
 	printf(" -z                        start bdevperf, but wait for RPC to start tests\n");
 	printf(" -C                        enable every core to send I/Os to each bdev\n");
 }
@@ -1595,7 +1598,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	opts.reactor_mask = NULL;
 	opts.shutdown_cb = spdk_bdevperf_shutdown_cb;
 
-	if ((rc = spdk_app_parse_args(argc, argv, &opts, "zfq:o:t:w:CM:P:S:T:", NULL,
+	if ((rc = spdk_app_parse_args(argc, argv, &opts, "xzfq:o:t:w:CM:P:S:T:", NULL,
 				      bdevperf_parse_arg, bdevperf_usage)) !=
 	    SPDK_APP_PARSE_ARGS_SUCCESS) {
 		return rc;