diff --git a/man/virt-install.rst b/man/virt-install.rst
index f2741f654..9cc433605 100644
--- a/man/virt-install.rst
+++ b/man/virt-install.rst
@@ -969,20 +969,33 @@ GUEST OS OPTIONS
 ``--os-variant``, ``--osinfo``
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-**Syntax:** ``--os-variant`` OS_VARIANT
+**Syntax:** ``--os-variant`` [OS_VARIANT|OPT1=VAL1,...]
 
 Optimize the guest configuration for a specific operating system (ex.
 'fedora29', 'rhel7', 'win10'). While not required, specifying this
 options is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, as it can greatly increase performance
 by specifying virtio among other guest tweaks.
 
-By default, virt-install will attempt to auto detect this value from
-the install media (currently only supported for URL installs). Autodetection
-can be disabled with the special value 'none'. Autodetection can be
-forced with the special value 'auto'.
+The simplest usage is ``--os-variant OS-NAME``, for example
+``--os-variant fedora32``. ``--os-variant`` supports explicit suboption
+syntax as well:
+
+``name=``, ``short-id=``
+    The OS name/short-id from libosinfo. Examples: ``fedora32``, ``win10``
+
+``id=``
+    The full URL style libosinfo ID. For example, ``name=win10`` is
+    the same as ``id=http://microsoft.com/win/10``
+
+``detect=on|off``
+    Whether virt-install should attempt OS detection from the specified
+    install media. Detection is presently only attempted for URL and
+    CDROM installs, and is not 100% reliable.
+
+By default, virt-install will use ``--os-variant detect=on``.
 
 Use the command "osinfo-query os" to get the list of the accepted OS
-variants.
+variant names.
 
 
 
diff --git a/man/virt-xml.rst b/man/virt-xml.rst
index bb521cd42..7ff7ceca7 100644
--- a/man/virt-xml.rst
+++ b/man/virt-xml.rst
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ GUEST OS OPTIONS
     Use the command "osinfo-query os" to get the list of the accepted OS
     variants.
 
+    See virt-install(1) documentation for more details about ``--os-variant``
+
 
 XML OPTIONS
 ===========
diff --git a/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-fake-http.xml b/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-fake-http.xml
index 8292e63ab..13928dbda 100644
--- a/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-fake-http.xml
+++ b/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-fake-http.xml
@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 <domain type="test">
-  <name>rhel6.0</name>
+  <name>vm1</name>
   <uuid>00000000-1111-2222-3333-444444444444</uuid>
-  <metadata>
-    <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
-      <libosinfo:os id="http://redhat.com/rhel/6.0"/>
-    </libosinfo:libosinfo>
-  </metadata>
   <memory>65536</memory>
   <currentMemory>65536</currentMemory>
-  <vcpu>2</vcpu>
+  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
   <os>
     <type arch="i686">hvm</type>
     <kernel>/VIRTINST-TESTSUITE/vmlinuz</kernel>
@@ -44,16 +39,11 @@
   </devices>
 </domain>
 <domain type="test">
-  <name>rhel6.0</name>
+  <name>vm1</name>
   <uuid>00000000-1111-2222-3333-444444444444</uuid>
-  <metadata>
-    <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
-      <libosinfo:os id="http://redhat.com/rhel/6.0"/>
-    </libosinfo:libosinfo>
-  </metadata>
   <memory>65536</memory>
   <currentMemory>65536</currentMemory>
-  <vcpu>2</vcpu>
+  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
   <os>
     <type arch="i686">hvm</type>
     <boot dev="hd"/>
diff --git a/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-osinfo-url-with-disk.xml b/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-osinfo-url-with-disk.xml
index 37b7e575e..28ebf6530 100644
--- a/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-osinfo-url-with-disk.xml
+++ b/tests/data/cli/compare/virt-install-osinfo-url-with-disk.xml
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 <domain type="kvm">
-  <name>fedora26</name>
+  <name>fedora27</name>
   <uuid>00000000-1111-2222-3333-444444444444</uuid>
   <metadata>
     <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
-      <libosinfo:os id="http://fedoraproject.org/fedora/26"/>
+      <libosinfo:os id="http://fedoraproject.org/fedora/27"/>
     </libosinfo:libosinfo>
   </metadata>
   <memory>65536</memory>
@@ -60,11 +60,11 @@
   </devices>
 </domain>
 <domain type="kvm">
-  <name>fedora26</name>
+  <name>fedora27</name>
   <uuid>00000000-1111-2222-3333-444444444444</uuid>
   <metadata>
     <libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
-      <libosinfo:os id="http://fedoraproject.org/fedora/26"/>
+      <libosinfo:os id="http://fedoraproject.org/fedora/27"/>
     </libosinfo:libosinfo>
   </metadata>
   <memory>65536</memory>
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 8a7ddff5d..76bf684e9 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -861,15 +861,14 @@ c.add_valid("--location location=%(TREEDIR)s")  # Directory tree URL install
 c.add_valid("--location %(TREEDIR)s --initrd-inject virt-install --extra-args ks=file:/virt-install")  # initrd-inject
 c.add_valid("--hvm --location %(TREEDIR)s --extra-args console=ttyS0")  # Directory tree URL install with extra-args
 c.add_valid("--paravirt --location %(TREEDIR)s")  # Paravirt location
-c.add_valid("--paravirt --location %(TREEDIR)s --os-variant none")  # Paravirt location with --os-variant none
 c.add_valid("--location %(TREEDIR)s --os-variant fedora12")  # URL install with manual os-variant
 c.add_valid("--cdrom %(EXISTIMG2)s --os-variant win2k3")  # HVM windows install with disk
 c.add_valid("--cdrom %(EXISTIMG2)s --os-variant win2k3 --print-step 2")  # HVM windows install, print 3rd stage XML
 c.add_valid("--pxe --autostart")  # --autostart flag
 c.add_compare("--cdrom http://example.com/path/to/some.iso", "cdrom-url")
-c.add_compare("--pxe --print-step all", "simple-pxe")  # Diskless PXE install
-c.add_compare("--location ftp://example.com", "fake-ftp")  # fake ftp:// install using urlfetcher.py mocking
-c.add_compare("--location https://foobar.com", "fake-http")  # fake https:// install using urlfetcher.py mocking
+c.add_compare("--pxe --print-step all --os-variant none", "simple-pxe")  # Diskless PXE install
+c.add_compare("--location ftp://example.com --os-variant auto", "fake-ftp")  # fake ftp:// install using urlfetcher.py mocking
+c.add_compare("--location https://foobar.com --os-variant detect=no", "fake-http")  # fake https:// install using urlfetcher.py mocking, but also hit --os-variant detect=no
 c.add_compare("--connect %(URI-KVM)s --install fedora26", "osinfo-url")  # getting URL from osinfo
 c.add_invalid("--pxe --virt-type bogus")  # Bogus virt-type
 c.add_invalid("--pxe --arch bogus")  # Bogus arch
@@ -884,7 +883,7 @@ c.add_invalid("--arch i686 --install fedora26", grep="does not have a URL locati
 c.add_invalid("-c foo --cdrom bar", grep="Cannot specify both -c")  # check for ambiguous -c and --cdrom collision
 c.add_invalid("-c qemu:///system", grep="looks like a libvirt URI")  # error for the ambiguous -c vs --connect
 c.add_invalid("--location /", grep="Error validating install location")  # detect_distro failure
-c.add_invalid("--os-variant foo://bar", grep="Unknown libosinfo ID")  # bad full id
+c.add_invalid("--os-variant id=foo://bar", grep="Unknown libosinfo ID")  # bad full id
 c.add_invalid("--location http://testsuitefail.com", grep="installable distribution")  # will trigger a particular mock failure
 
 
@@ -897,8 +896,8 @@ c.add_valid("--paravirt --import")  # PV Import install
 c.add_valid("--paravirt --print-xml 1")  # print single XML, implied import install
 c.add_valid("--hvm --import --wait 0", grep="Treating --wait 0 as --noautoconsole")  # --wait 0 is the same as --noautoconsole
 c.add_compare("-c %(EXISTIMG2)s --osinfo win2k3 --vcpus cores=4 --controller usb,model=none", "w2k3-cdrom")  # HVM windows install with disk
-c.add_compare("--connect %(URI-KVM)s --install fedora26 --disk size=20", "osinfo-url-with-disk")  # filling in defaults, but with disk specified
-c.add_compare("--connect %(URI-KVM)s --pxe --os-variant debianbuster --disk none", "osinfo-multiple-short-id", prerun_check=lambda: not OSDB.lookup_os("debianbuster"))  # test plumbing for multiple short ids
+c.add_compare("--connect %(URI-KVM)s --install fedora26 --os-variant fedora27 --disk size=20", "osinfo-url-with-disk")  # filling in defaults, but with disk specified, and making sure we don't overwrite --os-variant
+c.add_compare("--connect %(URI-KVM)s --pxe --os-variant short-id=debianbuster --disk none", "osinfo-multiple-short-id", prerun_check=lambda: not OSDB.lookup_os("debianbuster"))  # test plumbing for multiple short ids
 c.add_invalid("--hvm --import --wait 2", grep="exceeded specified time limit")  # --wait positive number, but test suite hack
 c.add_invalid("--hvm --import --wait -1", grep="exceeded specified time limit")  # --wait -1, but test suite hack
 c.add_invalid("--hvm --import --wait", grep="exceeded specified time limit")  # --wait aka --wait -1, but test suite hack
@@ -979,7 +978,7 @@ c.add_compare("--os-variant fedora-unknown --file %(EXISTIMG1)s --location %(TRE
 c.add_compare("--test-media-detection %(TREEDIR)s --arch x86_64 --hvm", "test-url-detection")  # --test-media-detection
 c.add_compare("--os-variant http://fedoraproject.org/fedora/20 --disk %(EXISTIMG1)s,device=floppy --disk %(NEWIMG1)s,size=.01,format=vmdk --location %(TREEDIR)s --extra-args console=ttyS0 --quiet", "quiet-url", prerun_check=has_old_osinfo)  # Quiet URL install should make no noise
 c.add_compare("--cdrom %(EXISTIMG2)s --file %(EXISTIMG1)s --os-variant win2k3 --sound --controller usb", "kvm-win2k3-cdrom")  # HVM windows install with disk
-c.add_compare("--os-variant ubuntusaucy --nodisks --boot cdrom --virt-type qemu --cpu Penryn --input tablet --boot uefi --graphics vnc", "qemu-plain")  # plain qemu
+c.add_compare("--os-variant name=ubuntusaucy --nodisks --boot cdrom --virt-type qemu --cpu Penryn --input tablet --boot uefi --graphics vnc", "qemu-plain")  # plain qemu
 c.add_compare("--os-variant fedora20 --nodisks --boot network --graphics default --arch i686 --rng none", "qemu-32-on-64", prerun_check=has_old_osinfo)  # 32 on 64
 
 # ppc64 tests
diff --git a/virtinst/cli.py b/virtinst/cli.py
index 2c07a959e..5a707301a 100644
--- a/virtinst/cli.py
+++ b/virtinst/cli.py
@@ -480,7 +480,8 @@ def get_domain_and_guest(conn, domstr):
 
 def _get_completer_parsers():
     return VIRT_PARSERS + [ParserCheck, ParserLocation,
-            ParserUnattended, ParserInstall, ParserCloudInit, ParserXML]
+            ParserUnattended, ParserInstall, ParserCloudInit, ParserXML,
+            ParserOSVariant]
 
 
 def _virtparser_completer(prefix, **kwargs):
@@ -1790,42 +1791,66 @@ def parse_location(optstr):
 ########################
 
 class OSVariantData(object):
-    def __init__(self, os_variant):
-        self._rawstr = os_variant
-        self._default_auto = True
+    def __init__(self):
         self._name = None
-        if not self._rawstr:
+        self._id = None
+        self._detect = False
+
+    def set_compat_str(self, rawstr):
+        if rawstr is None or rawstr == "auto":
+            # The default behavior
+            self._detect = True
             return
 
-        self._default_auto = False
-        if self.is_none or self.is_auto:
-            return
-        if "://" in self._rawstr:
-            osobj = OSDB.lookup_os_by_full_id(self._rawstr, raise_error=True)
+        if rawstr == "none":
+            self._name = "generic"
+        elif "://" in rawstr:
+            self._id = rawstr
         else:
-            osobj = OSDB.lookup_os(self._rawstr, raise_error=True)
-        self._name = osobj.name
+            self._name = rawstr
 
-    def set_installdata_name(self, name):
-        # osname set via --install os=X, but if --os-variant also
-        # explicitly set, we don't want to overwrite it
-        if self._default_auto:
-            self._default_auto = False
-            self._name = name
+    def validate(self):
+        osobj = None
+        if self._id:
+            osobj = OSDB.lookup_os_by_full_id(self._id, raise_error=True)
+        elif self._name:
+            osobj = OSDB.lookup_os(self._name, raise_error=True)
+        if osobj:
+            self._name = osobj.name
 
-    @property
-    def is_none(self):
-        return self._rawstr == "none"
-    @property
-    def is_auto(self):
-        return self._rawstr == "auto" or self._default_auto
-    @property
-    def name(self):
+    def is_generic_requested(self):
+        return self._detect is False or self._name == "generic"
+    def is_detect(self):
+        return self._detect
+    def get_name(self):
         return self._name
 
 
+class ParserOSVariant(VirtCLIParser):
+    cli_arg_name = "os-variant"
+    supports_clearxml = False
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _init_class(cls, **kwargs):
+        VirtCLIParser._init_class(**kwargs)
+        cls.add_arg("name", "_name")
+        cls.add_arg("short-id", "_name")
+        cls.add_arg("id", "_id")
+        cls.add_arg("detect", "_detect", is_onoff=True)
+
+    def parse(self, inst):
+        if "=" not in str(self.optstr):
+            inst.set_compat_str(self.optstr)
+            return
+        return super().parse(inst)
+
+
 def parse_os_variant(optstr):
-    return OSVariantData(optstr)
+    data = OSVariantData()
+    parser = ParserOSVariant(optstr)
+    parser.parse(data)
+    data.validate()
+    return data
 
 
 ###########################
diff --git a/virtinst/virtinstall.py b/virtinst/virtinstall.py
index a73da352c..0e29cc689 100644
--- a/virtinst/virtinstall.py
+++ b/virtinst/virtinstall.py
@@ -361,8 +361,7 @@ def show_guest_warnings(options, guest, osdata):
     # Limit it to hvm x86 guests which presently our defaults
     # only really matter for
     if (guest.osinfo.name == "generic" and
-        not osdata.is_none and
-        not osdata.name == "generic" and
+        not osdata.is_generic_requested() and
         guest.os.is_x86() and guest.os.is_hvm()):
         log.warning(_("No operating system detected, VM performance may "
             "suffer. Specify an OS with --os-variant for optimal results."))
@@ -535,12 +534,12 @@ def installer_detect_distro(guest, installer, osdata):
         # OS name has to be set firstly whenever --os-variant is passed,
         # otherwise it won't be respected when the installer creates the
         # Distro Store.
-        if osdata.name:
-            guest.set_os_name(osdata.name)
+        if osdata.get_name():
+            guest.set_os_name(osdata.get_name())
 
         # This also validates the install location
         autodistro = installer.detect_distro(guest)
-        if osdata.is_auto and autodistro:
+        if osdata.is_detect() and autodistro:
             guest.set_os_name(autodistro)
     except ValueError as e:
         fail(_("Error validating install location: %s") % str(e))
@@ -566,9 +565,7 @@ def _build_options_guest(conn, options):
 
 def build_guest_instance(conn, options):
     installdata = cli.parse_install(options.install)
-    osdata = cli.parse_os_variant(options.os_variant)
-    if installdata.os:
-        osdata.set_installdata_name(installdata.os)
+    osdata = cli.parse_os_variant(options.os_variant or installdata.os)
 
     if options.reinstall:
         dummy1, guest, dummy2 = cli.get_domain_and_guest(conn, options.reinstall)
diff --git a/virtinst/virtxml.py b/virtinst/virtxml.py
index 4cb542e28..0fe94c47b 100644
--- a/virtinst/virtxml.py
+++ b/virtinst/virtxml.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ def set_os_variant(options, guest):
         return
 
     osdata = cli.parse_os_variant(options.os_variant)
-    if osdata.name:
-        guest.set_os_name(osdata.name)
+    if osdata.get_name():
+        guest.set_os_name(osdata.get_name())
 
 
 def defined_xml_is_unchanged(conn, domain, original_xml):