diff --git a/functional/vfio/run.sh b/functional/vfio/run.sh
index 9e60ad80e..757f21466 100755
--- a/functional/vfio/run.sh
+++ b/functional/vfio/run.sh
@@ -25,15 +25,23 @@ HYPERVISOR=
 MACHINE_TYPE=
 IMAGE_TYPE=
 
+# Option to choose an alternative PCI device for the VFIO test
+VFIO_PCI_CLASS=${VFIO_PCI_CLASS:-"Ethernet controller"}
+VFIO_PCI_NAME=${VFIO_PCI_NAME:-"Virtio.*network device"}
+VFIO_CHECK_GUEST_KERNEL=${VFIO_CHECK_GUEST_KERNEL:-"ip a | grep \"eth\" || die \"Missing VFIO network interface\""}
+VFIO_HOTPLUG=${VFIO_HOTPLUG:-"bridge-port"}
+VFIO_COLDPLUG=${VFIO_COLDPLUG:-"bridge-port"}
+VFIO_CHECK_NUM_DEVICES=${VFIO_CHECK_NUM_DEVICES:-"2"}
+
 cleanup() {
 	clean_env_ctr
 	sudo rm -rf "${tmp_data_dir}"
-
-	[ -n "${host_pci}" ] && sudo driverctl unset-override "${host_pci}"
+	# some devices fail if no previous driver being bound
+	[ -n "${host_pci}" ] && sudo driverctl --noprobe unset-override "${host_pci}"
 }
 
 host_pci_addr() {
-	lspci -D | grep "Ethernet controller" | grep "Virtio.*network device" | tail -1 | cut -d' ' -f1
+	lspci -D | grep "${VFIO_PCI_CLASS}" | grep "${VFIO_PCI_NAME}" | tail -1 | cut -d' ' -f1
 }
 
 get_vfio_path() {
@@ -87,7 +95,7 @@ check_guest_kernel() {
 	# For vfio_mode=guest-kernel, the device should be bound to
 	# the guest kernel's native driver.  To check this has worked,
 	# we look for an ethernet device named 'eth*'
-	get_ctr_cmd_output "${container_id}" ip a | grep "eth" || die "Missing VFIO network interface"
+	get_ctr_cmd_output "${container_id}" ash -c "${VFIO_CHECK_GUEST_KERNEL}"
 }
 
 check_vfio() {
@@ -113,8 +121,8 @@ check_vfio() {
 	# There should be two devices in the IOMMU group: the ethernet
 	# device we care about, plus the PCIe to PCI bridge device
 	devs="$(get_ctr_cmd_output "${cid}" ls /sys/kernel/iommu_groups/"${group}"/devices)"
-	if [ $(echo "${devs}" | wc -w) != "2" ] ; then
-	    die "Expected exactly two devices got: ${devs}"
+        if [ $(echo "${devs}" | wc -w) != ${VFIO_CHECK_NUM_DEVICES} ] ; then
+            die "Expected exactly ${VFIO_CHECK_NUM_DEVICES} device(s) got: ${devs}"
 	fi
 
 	# The bridge device will always sort first, because it is on
@@ -188,11 +196,25 @@ setup_configuration_file() {
 	if [ -n "$MACHINE_TYPE" ]; then
 		if [ "$HYPERVISOR" = "qemu" ]; then
 			sed -i 's|^machine_type.*|machine_type = "'${MACHINE_TYPE}'"|g' "${kata_config_file}"
+			# Make sure we have set hot_plug_vfio to a reasonable value
+			sed -i -e 's|^#hot_plug_vfio =.*$|hot_plug_vfio = "bridge-port"|' -e 's|^hot_plug_vfio =.*$|hot_plug_vfio = "bridge-port"|' "${kata_config_file}"
 		else
 			warn "Variable machine_type only applies to qemu. It will be ignored"
 		fi
 	fi
 
+        if [ "${VFIO_HOTPLUG}" != "bridge-port" ]; then
+		sed -i -e "s|^#hot_plug_vfio =.*$|hot_plug_vfio = \"${VFIO_HOTPLUG}\"|"  -e "s|^hot_plug_vfio =.*$|hot_plug_vfio = \"${VFIO_HOTPLUG}\"|" "${kata_config_file}"
+                cat "${kata_config_file}" | grep -v '#' | grep -v '^$'
+        fi
+
+        if [ "${VFIO_COLDPLUG}" != "bridge-port" ]; then
+		sed -i -e "s|^#cold_plug_vfio =.*$|cold_plug_vfio = \"${VFIO_HOTPLUG}\"|"  -e "s|^cold_plug_vfio =.*$|cold_plug_vfio = \"${VFIO_HOTPLUG}\"|" "${kata_config_file}"
+                cat "${kata_config_file}" | grep -v '#' | grep -v '^$'
+        fi
+
+
+
 	if [ -n "${SANDBOX_CGROUP_ONLY}" ]; then
 	   sed -i 's|^sandbox_cgroup_only.*|sandbox_cgroup_only='${SANDBOX_CGROUP_ONLY}'|g' "${kata_config_file}"
 	fi