diff --git a/core/qubesutils.py b/core/qubesutils.py
index ce15dc10..bd080559 100644
--- a/core/qubesutils.py
+++ b/core/qubesutils.py
@@ -372,7 +372,9 @@ def block_check_attached(qvmc, device):
                                         "VM '%s'" % (source.get('type'),
                                                      vm.name)
                     continue
-                if backend_name == device['vm'] and path == device['device']:
+                if backend_name == device['vm'] and (path == device['device']
+                        or not path.startswith('/dev/') and path == device[
+                        'desc']):
                     return {
                         "frontend": disk.find('target').get('dev'),
                         "vm": vm}
diff --git a/qvm-tools/qvm-block b/qvm-tools/qvm-block
index 3d7a6df8..2a1e9578 100755
--- a/qvm-tools/qvm-block
+++ b/qvm-tools/qvm-block
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ def main():
         if options.do_file_attach:
             dev = {}
             (dev['vm'], dev['device']) = args[1].split(":")
+            dev['desc'] = dev['device']
             dev['mode'] = 'w'
         else:
             dev_list = block_list(qvm_collection)