diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index 1fc2520be1..ffc8bdb344 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -2853,9 +2853,16 @@ virStorageSourceParseBackingURI(virStorageSourcePtr src,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    /* handle socket stored as a query */
-    if (uri->query)
-        src->hosts->socket = g_strdup(STRSKIP(uri->query, "socket="));
+    if (uri->query) {
+        if (src->protocol == VIR_STORAGE_NET_PROTOCOL_HTTP ||
+            src->protocol == VIR_STORAGE_NET_PROTOCOL_HTTPS) {
+            src->query = g_strdup(uri->query);
+        } else {
+            /* handle socket stored as a query */
+            if (STRPREFIX(uri->query, "socket="))
+                src->hosts->socket = g_strdup(STRSKIP(uri->query, "socket="));
+        }
+    }
 
     /* uri->path is NULL if the URI does not contain slash after host:
      * transport://host:port */
diff --git a/tests/virstoragetest.c b/tests/virstoragetest.c
index 10d5421150..6e8ebeba13 100644
--- a/tests/virstoragetest.c
+++ b/tests/virstoragetest.c
@@ -1632,7 +1632,7 @@ mymain(void)
                                    "\"file.url\": \"https://host/folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64-flat.vmdk?dcPath=data&dsName=esx6.5-matrix\","
                                    "\"file.timeout\": 2000"
                                  "}",
-                           "<source protocol='https' name='folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64-flat.vmdk'>\n"
+                           "<source protocol='https' name='folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64-flat.vmdk' query='dcPath=data&amp;dsName=esx6.5-matrix'>\n"
                            "  <host name='host' port='443'/>\n"
                            "  <ssl verify='no'/>\n"
                            "  <cookies>\n"
@@ -1647,7 +1647,7 @@ mymain(void)
                                    "\"file.url\": \"https://host/folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86%5f64-flat.vmdk?dcPath=data&dsName=esx6.5-matrix\","
                                    "\"file.timeout\": 2000"
                                  "}",
-                           "<source protocol='https' name='folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64-flat.vmdk'>\n"
+                           "<source protocol='https' name='folder/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64/esx6.5-rhel7.7-x86_64-flat.vmdk' query='dcPath=data&amp;dsName=esx6.5-matrix'>\n"
                            "  <host name='host' port='443'/>\n"
                            "  <ssl verify='no'/>\n"
                            "  <cookies>\n"