diff --git a/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5.in b/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5.in
index b4bbc8f9a7..0a1a0bf13b 100644
--- a/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5.in
+++ b/docs/man/xl.cfg.pod.5.in
@@ -441,6 +441,62 @@ is guest specific).
 
 =back
 
+=head3 Non direct Kernel Boot
+
+Non direct kernel boot allows booting guests with a firmware. This can be
+used by all types of guests, although the selection of options is different
+depending on the guest type.
+
+This option provides the flexibly of letting the guest decide which kernel
+they want to boot, while preventing having to poke at the guest file
+system form the toolstack domain.
+
+=head4 PV guest options
+
+=over 4
+
+=item B<firmware="pvgrub32|pvgrub64">
+
+Boots a guest using a para-virtualized version of grub that runs inside
+of the guest. The bitness of the guest needs to be know, so that the right
+version of pvgrub can be selected.
+
+Note that xl expects to find the pvgrub32.bin and pvgrub64.bin binaries in
+F<@XENFIRMWAREDIR@>.
+
+=back
+
+=head4 HVM guest options
+
+=over 4
+
+=item B<firmware="bios">
+
+Boot the guest using the default BIOS firmware, which depends on the
+chosen device model.
+
+=item B<firmware="uefi">
+
+Boot the guest using the default UEFI firmware, currently OVMF.
+
+=item B<firmware="seabios">
+
+Boot the guest using the SeaBIOS BIOS firmware.
+
+=item B<firmware="rombios">
+
+Boot the guest using the ROMBIOS BIOS firmware.
+
+=item B<firmware="ovmf">
+
+Boot the guest using the OVMF UEFI firmware.
+
+=item B<firmware="PATH">
+
+Load the specified file as firmware for the guest.
+
+=back
+
 =head3 Other Options
 
 =over 4
diff --git a/tools/xl/xl_parse.c b/tools/xl/xl_parse.c
index f9cc56471d..f267a74ec9 100644
--- a/tools/xl/xl_parse.c
+++ b/tools/xl/xl_parse.c
@@ -1337,9 +1337,55 @@ void parse_config_data(const char *config_source,
             exit(-ERROR_FAIL);
         }
 
+        /*
+         * The firmware config option can be used as a simplification
+         * instead of setting bios or firmware_override. It has the
+         * following meanings for HVM guests:
+         *
+         *  - ovmf | seabios | rombios: maps directly into the "bios"
+         *    option.
+         *  - uefi | bios: maps into one of the above options and is set
+         *    in the bios field.
+         *  - Anything else is treated as a path that is copied into
+         *    firmware.
+         */
+        if (!xlu_cfg_get_string (config, "firmware", &buf, 0) &&
+            libxl_bios_type_from_string(buf, &b_info->u.hvm.bios)) {
+            if (!strncmp(buf, "uefi", strlen(buf)))
+                b_info->u.hvm.bios = LIBXL_BIOS_TYPE_OVMF;
+            else if (strncmp(buf, "bios", strlen(buf)))
+                /* Assume it's a path to a custom firmware. */
+                xlu_cfg_replace_string(config, "firmware",
+                                       &b_info->u.hvm.firmware, 0);
+            /*
+             * BIOS is the default, and will be chosen by libxl based on
+             * the device model specified.
+             */
+        }
+
         break;
     case LIBXL_DOMAIN_TYPE_PV:
     {
+        /*
+         * The firmware config option can be used as a simplification
+         * instead of directly setting kernel. It will be translated to
+         * XENFIRMWAREDIR/<string>.bin
+         */
+        if (!xlu_cfg_get_string (config, "firmware", &buf, 0)) {
+            if (b_info->kernel) {
+                fprintf(stderr,
+                        "ERROR: both kernel and firmware specified\n");
+                exit(1);
+            }
+            if (strncmp(buf, "pvgrub32", strlen(buf)) &&
+                strncmp(buf, "pvgrub64", strlen(buf))) {
+                fprintf(stderr,
+            "ERROR: only pvgrub{32|64} supported as firmware options\n");
+                exit(1);
+            }
+
+            xasprintf(&b_info->kernel, XENFIRMWAREDIR "/%s.bin", buf);
+        }
         if (!b_info->bootloader && !b_info->kernel) {
             fprintf(stderr, "Neither kernel nor bootloader specified\n");
             exit(1);