diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/README.rst b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/README.rst
index b7190827..624e34e4 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/README.rst
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/README.rst
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
 Verify we can build a ubuntu-minimal image.
+
+Note this test includes the vm element to test the bootloader install,
+and specifies to output a .qcow2
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/element-deps b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/element-deps
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d4000391
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/element-deps
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+vm
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/test-output-formats b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/test-output-formats
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c780936b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/ubuntu-minimal/test-elements/xenial-build-succeeds/test-output-formats
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+tar,qcow2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/run_functests.sh b/tests/run_functests.sh
index 66e83a1d..a93a406f 100755
--- a/tests/run_functests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_functests.sh
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ DEFAULT_SKIP_TESTS=(
     centos/build-succeeds
 )
 
+# The default output formats (specified to disk-image-create's "-t"
+# command.  Elements can override with a test-output-formats file
+DEFAULT_OUTPUT_FORMATS="tar"
+
 function log_with_prefix {
     local pr=$1
     local log
@@ -82,13 +86,15 @@ function wait_minus_n {
     fi
 }
 
-# run_disk_element_test <test_element> <element>
-#  Run a disk-image-build .tar build of ELEMENT including any elements
-#  specified by TEST_ELEMENT
+# run_disk_element_test <test_element> <element> <use_tmp> <output_formats>
+#  Run a disk-image-build build of ELEMENT including any elements
+#  specified by TEST_ELEMENT.  Pass OUTPUT_FORMAT to "-t"
 function run_disk_element_test() {
     local test_element=$1
     local element=$2
     local dont_use_tmp=$3
+    local output_format="$4"
+
     local use_tmp_flag=""
     local dest_dir=$(mktemp -d)
 
@@ -102,12 +108,17 @@ function run_disk_element_test() {
         break_cmd="cp -v \$TMP_MOUNT_PATH/tmp/dib-test-should-fail ${dest_dir} || true" \
         DIB_SHOW_IMAGE_USAGE=1 \
         ELEMENTS_PATH=$DIB_ELEMENTS/$element/test-elements \
-        $DIB_CMD -x -t tar,qcow2 ${use_tmp_flag} -o $dest_dir/image -n $element $test_element 2>&1 \
+        $DIB_CMD -x -t ${output_format} \
+                       ${use_tmp_flag} \
+                       -o $dest_dir/image -n $element $test_element 2>&1 \
            | log_with_prefix "${element}/${test_element}"; then
 
-        if ! [ -f "$dest_dir/image.qcow2" ]; then
-            echo "Error: qcow2 build failed for element: $element, test-element: $test_element."
-            echo "No image $dest_dir/image.qcow2 found!"
+        if [[ "qcow2" =~ "$output_format" ]]; then
+            if ! [ -f "$dest_dir/image.qcow2" ]; then
+                echo "Error: qcow2 build failed for element: $element, test-element: $test_element."
+                echo "No image $dest_dir/image.qcow2 found!"
+                exit 1
+            fi
         fi
 
         # check inside the tar for sentinel files
@@ -305,16 +316,25 @@ for test in "${TESTS_TO_RUN[@]}"; do
     element=${test%/*}
     test_element=${test#*/}
 
+    element_dir=$DIB_ELEMENTS/${element}/test-elements/${test_element}/
+
     # tests default to disk-based, but "element-type" can optionally
     # override that
     element_type=disk
-    element_type_override=$DIB_ELEMENTS/${element}/test-elements/${test_element}/element-type
+    element_type_override=${element_dir}/element-type
     if [ -f ${element_type_override} ]; then
         element_type=$(cat ${element_type_override})
     fi
 
+    # override the output format if specified
+    element_output=${DEFAULT_OUTPUT_FORMATS}
+    element_output_override=${element_dir}/test-output-formats
+    if [ -f $element_output_override ]; then
+        element_output=$(cat ${element_output_override})
+    fi
+
     echo "Running $test ($element_type)"
-    run_${element_type}_element_test $test_element $element ${DONT_USE_TMP} &
+    run_${element_type}_element_test $test_element $element ${DONT_USE_TMP} "${element_output}" &
 done
 
 # Wait for the rest of the jobs