diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/storage/LibvirtStorageAdaptor.java b/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/storage/LibvirtStorageAdaptor.java
index 6c55743696d..2a603cb0f47 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/storage/LibvirtStorageAdaptor.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/kvm/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/kvm/storage/LibvirtStorageAdaptor.java
@@ -688,10 +688,16 @@ public class LibvirtStorageAdaptor implements StorageAdaptor {
         PhysicalDiskFormat destFormat = newDisk.getFormat();
 
         if ((srcPool.getType() != StoragePoolType.RBD) && (destPool.getType() != StoragePoolType.RBD)) {
-            Script.runSimpleBashScript("qemu-img convert -f " + sourceFormat
-                + " -O " + destFormat
-                + " " + sourcePath
-                + " " + destPath);
+            if (sourceFormat.equals(destFormat) && 
+                Script.runSimpleBashScript("qemu-img info " + sourcePath + "|grep backing") == null) {
+                Script.runSimpleBashScript("cp -f " + sourcePath + " " + destPath);
+
+            } else {
+                Script.runSimpleBashScript("qemu-img convert -f " + sourceFormat
+                    + " -O " + destFormat
+                    + " " + sourcePath
+                    + " " + destPath);
+            }
         } else if ((srcPool.getType() != StoragePoolType.RBD) && (destPool.getType() == StoragePoolType.RBD))  {
             Script.runSimpleBashScript("qemu-img convert -f " + sourceFormat
                     + " -O " + destFormat
diff --git a/scripts/storage/qcow2/create_private_template.sh b/scripts/storage/qcow2/create_private_template.sh
index 4b93380bc52..8e9e26c4104 100755
--- a/scripts/storage/qcow2/create_private_template.sh
+++ b/scripts/storage/qcow2/create_private_template.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,13 @@ create_template() {
   local fspath=$1
   local destpath=$2
 
-  qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /$fspath  $destpath
+  # if backing image exists, we need to combine them, otherwise 
+  # copy the image to preserve snapshots/compression
+  if $qemu_img info "$tmpltimg" | grep -q backing; then
+    qemu-img convert -O qcow2 /$fspath  $destpath
+  else
+    cp -f /$fspath $destpath
+  fi
 
   if [ $? -gt 0  ]; then
     printf " Failed to export template  $destpath\n" >&2
diff --git a/scripts/storage/qcow2/createtmplt.sh b/scripts/storage/qcow2/createtmplt.sh
index 84d2ba80b8c..152268f651a 100755
--- a/scripts/storage/qcow2/createtmplt.sh
+++ b/scripts/storage/qcow2/createtmplt.sh
@@ -100,7 +100,13 @@ create_from_file() {
   if [ -b $tmpltimg ]; then
       $qemu_img convert -f raw -O qcow2 "$tmpltimg" /$tmpltfs/$tmpltname
   else
+    # if backing image exists, we need to combine them, otherwise 
+    # copy the image to preserve snapshots/compression
+    if $qemu_img info "$tmpltimg" | grep -q backing; then
       $qemu_img convert -f qcow2 -O qcow2 "$tmpltimg" /$tmpltfs/$tmpltname >& /dev/null
+    else
+      cp -f $tmpltimg /$tmpltfs/$tmpltname
+    fi
   fi
   
   if [ "$cleanup" == "true" ]
diff --git a/scripts/storage/qcow2/createvolume.sh b/scripts/storage/qcow2/createvolume.sh
index 10fa6dd617b..527aa68db28 100755
--- a/scripts/storage/qcow2/createvolume.sh
+++ b/scripts/storage/qcow2/createvolume.sh
@@ -101,7 +101,13 @@ create_from_file() {
   if [ -b $volimg ]; then
       $qemu_img convert -f raw -O qcow2 "$volimg" /$volfs/$volname
   else
+    # if backing image exists, we need to combine them, otherwise
+    # copy the image to preserve snapshots/compression
+    if $qemu_img info "$volimg" | grep -q backing; then
       $qemu_img convert -f qcow2 -O qcow2 "$volimg" /$volfs/$volname >& /dev/null
+    else
+      cp -f $volimg /$volfs/$volname
+    fi
   fi
   
   if [ "$cleanup" == "true" ]