diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/check b/tests/qemu-iotests/check
index 922c5d1d3d3..95162c6cf90 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/check
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/check
@@ -27,9 +27,7 @@ bad=""
 notrun=""
 casenotrun=""
 interrupt=true
-
-# by default don't output timestamps
-timestamp=${TIMESTAMP:=false}
+makecheck=false
 
 _init_error()
 {
@@ -88,6 +86,22 @@ _full_platform_details()
     echo "$os/$platform $host $kernel"
 }
 
+_full_env_details()
+{
+    cat <<EOF
+QEMU          -- "$QEMU_PROG" $QEMU_OPTIONS
+QEMU_IMG      -- "$QEMU_IMG_PROG" $QEMU_IMG_OPTIONS
+QEMU_IO       -- "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS
+QEMU_NBD      -- "$QEMU_NBD_PROG" $QEMU_NBD_OPTIONS
+IMGFMT        -- $FULL_IMGFMT_DETAILS
+IMGPROTO      -- $IMGPROTO
+PLATFORM      -- $FULL_HOST_DETAILS
+TEST_DIR      -- $TEST_DIR
+SOCKET_SCM_HELPER -- $SOCKET_SCM_HELPER
+
+EOF
+}
+
 # $1 = prog to look for
 set_prog_path()
 {
@@ -254,8 +268,8 @@ other options
     -misalign           misalign memory allocations
     -n                  show me, do not run tests
     -o options          -o options to pass to qemu-img create/convert
-    -T                  output timestamps
     -c mode             cache mode
+    -makecheck          pretty print output for make check
 
 testlist options
     -g group[,group...]        include tests from these groups
@@ -403,7 +417,10 @@ testlist options
                 command -v xxdiff >/dev/null 2>&1 && diff=xxdiff
             fi
             ;;
-
+        -makecheck)   # makecheck friendly output
+            makecheck=true
+            xpand=false
+            ;;
         -n)        # show me, don't do it
             showme=true
             xpand=false
@@ -416,8 +433,7 @@ testlist options
             cachemode=true
             xpand=false
             ;;
-        -T)        # turn on timestamp output
-            timestamp=true
+        -T)        # deprecated timestamp option
             xpand=false
             ;;
 
@@ -633,12 +649,6 @@ _wallclock()
     date "+%H %M %S" | awk '{ print $1*3600 + $2*60 + $3 }'
 }
 
-_timestamp()
-{
-    now=$(date "+%T")
-    printf %s " [$now]"
-}
-
 _wrapup()
 {
     if $showme
@@ -704,23 +714,54 @@ END        { if (NR > 0) {
 
 trap "_wrapup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 
+# Report the test start and results. For makecheck we want to pretty
+# print the whole report at the end of the execution.
+# args: $seq, $starttime, $lasttime
+_report_test_start()
+{
+    if ! $makecheck; then
+        if [ -n "$3" ]; then
+            local lasttime=" (last: $3s)"
+        fi
+        printf "%-8s %-10s [%s]            %4s%-14s\r" "$1" "..." "$2" "..." "$lasttime"
+    fi
+}
+# args:$seq $status $starttime $lasttime $thistime $details
+_report_test_result()
+{
+    local status lasttime thistime
+    if $makecheck; then
+        if [ -n "$2" ] && [ "$2" != "pass" ]; then
+            status=" [$2]"
+        fi
+        printf "  TEST    iotest-$IMGFMT: %s%s\n" "$1" "$status"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "$4" ]; then
+        lasttime=" (last: $4s)"
+    fi
+    if [ -n "$5" ]; then
+        thistime=" $5s"
+    fi
+    case "$2" in
+        "pass")     status=$(printf "\e[32m%-10s\e[0m" "$2") ;;
+        "fail")     status=$(printf "\e[1m\e[31m%-10s\e[0m" "$2") ;;
+        "not run")  status=$(printf "\e[33m%-10s\e[0m" "$2") ;;
+        *)          status=$(printf "%-10s" "$2") ;;
+    esac
+
+    printf "%-8s %s [%s] [%s] %4s%-14s %s\n" "$1" "$status" "$3" "$(date '+%T')" "$thistime" "$lasttime" "$6"
+}
+
 [ -f $TIMESTAMP_FILE ] || touch $TIMESTAMP_FILE
 
 FULL_IMGFMT_DETAILS=$(_full_imgfmt_details)
 FULL_HOST_DETAILS=$(_full_platform_details)
 
-cat <<EOF
-QEMU          -- "$QEMU_PROG" $QEMU_OPTIONS
-QEMU_IMG      -- "$QEMU_IMG_PROG" $QEMU_IMG_OPTIONS
-QEMU_IO       -- "$QEMU_IO_PROG" $QEMU_IO_OPTIONS
-QEMU_NBD      -- "$QEMU_NBD_PROG" $QEMU_NBD_OPTIONS
-IMGFMT        -- $FULL_IMGFMT_DETAILS
-IMGPROTO      -- $IMGPROTO
-PLATFORM      -- $FULL_HOST_DETAILS
-TEST_DIR      -- $TEST_DIR
-SOCKET_SCM_HELPER -- $SOCKET_SCM_HELPER
-
-EOF
+if ! $makecheck; then
+    _full_env_details
+fi
 
 seq="check"
 
@@ -728,42 +769,43 @@ seq="check"
 
 for seq in $list
 do
-    err=false
-    printf %s "$seq"
+    err=false       # error flag
+    printdiff=false # show diff to reference output?
+    status=""       # test result summary
+    results=""      # test result details
+
     if [ -n "$TESTS_REMAINING_LOG" ] ; then
         sed -e "s/$seq//" -e 's/  / /' -e 's/^ *//' $TESTS_REMAINING_LOG > $TESTS_REMAINING_LOG.tmp
         mv $TESTS_REMAINING_LOG.tmp $TESTS_REMAINING_LOG
         sync
     fi
 
+    lasttime=$(sed -n -e "/^$seq /s/.* //p" <$TIMESTAMP_FILE)
+    starttime=$(date "+%T")
+    _report_test_start $seq $starttime $lasttime
+
     if $showme
     then
-        echo
-        continue
+        status="not run"
     elif [ -f expunged ] && $expunge && egrep "^$seq([         ]|\$)" expunged >/dev/null
     then
-        echo " - expunged"
+        status="not run"
+        results="expunged"
         rm -f $seq.out.bad
         echo "/^$seq\$/d" >>$tmp.expunged
     elif [ ! -f "$source_iotests/$seq" ]
     then
-        echo " - no such test?"
+        status="not run"
+        results="no such test?"
         echo "/^$seq\$/d" >>$tmp.expunged
     else
         # really going to try and run this one
         #
         rm -f $seq.out.bad
-        lasttime=$(sed -n -e "/^$seq /s/.* //p" <$TIMESTAMP_FILE)
-        if [ "X$lasttime" != X ]; then
-                printf %s " ${lasttime}s ..."
-        else
-                printf "        "        # prettier output with timestamps.
-        fi
         rm -f core $seq.notrun
         rm -f $seq.casenotrun
 
         start=$(_wallclock)
-        $timestamp && printf %s "        [$(date "+%T")]"
 
         if [ "$(head -n 1 "$source_iotests/$seq")" == "#!/usr/bin/env python" ]; then
             run_command="$PYTHON $seq"
@@ -781,26 +823,26 @@ do
                     $run_command >$tmp.out 2>&1)
         fi
         sts=$?
-        $timestamp && _timestamp
         stop=$(_wallclock)
 
         if [ -f core ]
         then
-            printf " [dumped core]"
             mv core $seq.core
+            status="fail"
+            results="[dumped core] $seq.core"
             err=true
         fi
 
         if [ -f $seq.notrun ]
         then
-            $timestamp || printf " [not run] "
-            $timestamp && echo " [not run]" && printf %s "        $seq -- "
-            cat $seq.notrun
-            notrun="$notrun $seq"
+            # overwrites timestamp output
+            status="not run"
+            results="$(cat $seq.notrun)"
         else
             if [ $sts -ne 0 ]
             then
-                printf %s " [failed, exit status $sts]"
+                status="fail"
+                results=$(printf %s "[failed, exit status $sts]")
                 err=true
             fi
 
@@ -821,22 +863,23 @@ do
 
             if [ ! -f "$reference" ]
             then
-                echo " - no qualified output"
+                status="fail"
+                reason="no qualified output"
                 err=true
             else
                 if diff -w "$reference" $tmp.out >/dev/null 2>&1
                 then
-                    echo ""
-                    if $err
-                    then
-                        :
-                    else
-                        echo "$seq $(expr $stop - $start)" >>$tmp.time
+                    if ! $err; then
+                        status="pass"
+                        thistime=$(expr $stop - $start)
+                        echo "$seq $thistime" >>$tmp.time
                     fi
                 else
-                    echo " - output mismatch (see $seq.out.bad)"
                     mv $tmp.out $seq.out.bad
                     $diff -w "$reference" "$PWD"/$seq.out.bad
+                    status="fail"
+                    results="output mismatch (see $seq.out.bad)"
+                    printdiff=true
                     err=true
                 fi
             fi
@@ -850,13 +893,27 @@ do
 
     # come here for each test, except when $showme is true
     #
-    if $err
-    then
-        bad="$bad $seq"
-        n_bad=$(expr $n_bad + 1)
-        quick=false
-    fi
-    [ -f $seq.notrun ] || try=$(expr $try + 1)
+    _report_test_result $seq "$status" "$starttime" "$lasttime" "$thistime" "$results"
+    case "$status" in
+        "pass")
+            try=$(expr $try + 1)
+            ;;
+        "fail")
+            try=$(expr $try + 1)
+            if $makecheck; then
+                _full_env_details
+            fi
+            if $printdiff; then
+                $diff -w "$reference" "$PWD"/$seq.out.bad
+            fi
+            bad="$bad $seq"
+            n_bad=$(expr $n_bad + 1)
+            quick=false
+            ;;
+        "not run")
+            notrun="$notrun $seq"
+            ;;
+    esac
 
     seq="after_$seq"
 done
