diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 4b480135f6..e2e62afcdc 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -1368,6 +1368,7 @@ F: hw/mips/malta.c
 F: hw/pci-host/gt64120.c
 F: include/hw/southbridge/piix.h
 F: tests/avocado/linux_ssh_mips_malta.py
+F: tests/functional/test_mips_malta.py
 F: tests/functional/test_mipsel_malta.py
 F: tests/functional/test_mips64el_malta.py
 
diff --git a/tests/avocado/boot_linux_console.py b/tests/avocado/boot_linux_console.py
index 0756e49ded..370beb795a 100644
--- a/tests/avocado/boot_linux_console.py
+++ b/tests/avocado/boot_linux_console.py
@@ -116,69 +116,6 @@ def test_x86_64_pc(self):
         console_pattern = 'Kernel command line: %s' % kernel_command_line
         self.wait_for_console_pattern(console_pattern)
 
-    def test_mips_malta(self):
-        """
-        :avocado: tags=arch:mips
-        :avocado: tags=machine:malta
-        :avocado: tags=endian:big
-        """
-        deb_url = ('http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/'
-                   '20130217T032700Z/pool/main/l/linux-2.6/'
-                   'linux-image-2.6.32-5-4kc-malta_2.6.32-48_mips.deb')
-        deb_hash = 'a8cfc28ad8f45f54811fc6cf74fc43ffcfe0ba04'
-        deb_path = self.fetch_asset(deb_url, asset_hash=deb_hash)
-        kernel_path = self.extract_from_deb(deb_path,
-                                            '/boot/vmlinux-2.6.32-5-4kc-malta')
-
-        self.vm.set_console()
-        kernel_command_line = self.KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE + 'console=ttyS0'
-        self.vm.add_args('-kernel', kernel_path,
-                         '-append', kernel_command_line)
-        self.vm.launch()
-        console_pattern = 'Kernel command line: %s' % kernel_command_line
-        self.wait_for_console_pattern(console_pattern)
-
-    def test_mips_malta_cpio(self):
-        """
-        :avocado: tags=arch:mips
-        :avocado: tags=machine:malta
-        :avocado: tags=endian:big
-        """
-        deb_url = ('http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/'
-                   '20160601T041800Z/pool/main/l/linux/'
-                   'linux-image-4.5.0-2-4kc-malta_4.5.5-1_mips.deb')
-        deb_hash = 'a3c84f3e88b54e06107d65a410d1d1e8e0f340f8'
-        deb_path = self.fetch_asset(deb_url, asset_hash=deb_hash)
-        kernel_path = self.extract_from_deb(deb_path,
-                                            '/boot/vmlinux-4.5.0-2-4kc-malta')
-        initrd_url = ('https://github.com/groeck/linux-build-test/raw/'
-                      '8584a59ed9e5eb5ee7ca91f6d74bbb06619205b8/rootfs/'
-                      'mips/rootfs.cpio.gz')
-        initrd_hash = 'bf806e17009360a866bf537f6de66590de349a99'
-        initrd_path_gz = self.fetch_asset(initrd_url, asset_hash=initrd_hash)
-        initrd_path = self.workdir + "rootfs.cpio"
-        archive.gzip_uncompress(initrd_path_gz, initrd_path)
-
-        self.vm.set_console()
-        kernel_command_line = (self.KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE
-                               + 'console=ttyS0 console=tty '
-                               + 'rdinit=/sbin/init noreboot')
-        self.vm.add_args('-kernel', kernel_path,
-                         '-initrd', initrd_path,
-                         '-append', kernel_command_line,
-                         '-no-reboot')
-        self.vm.launch()
-        self.wait_for_console_pattern('Boot successful.')
-
-        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'cat /proc/cpuinfo',
-                                                'BogoMIPS')
-        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'uname -a',
-                                                'Debian')
-        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'reboot',
-                                                'reboot: Restarting system')
-        # Wait for VM to shut down gracefully
-        self.vm.wait()
-
     def test_aarch64_xlnx_versal_virt(self):
         """
         :avocado: tags=arch:aarch64
diff --git a/tests/functional/meson.build b/tests/functional/meson.build
index f8e482a87c..175e88bb87 100644
--- a/tests/functional/meson.build
+++ b/tests/functional/meson.build
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ tests_microblazeel_thorough = [
   'microblazeel_s3adsp1800'
 ]
 
+tests_mips_thorough = [
+  'mips_malta',
+]
+
 tests_mipsel_thorough = [
   'mipsel_malta',
 ]
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_mips_malta.py b/tests/functional/test_mips_malta.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..2f26dd5884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/test_mips_malta.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#
+# Functional tests for the little-endian 32-bit MIPS Malta board
+#
+# Copyright (c) Philippe Mathieu-Daudé <f4bug@amsat.org>
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+import os
+
+from qemu_test import QemuSystemTest, Asset
+from qemu_test import exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern
+from qemu_test.linux_kernel import linux_kernel_wait_for_pattern
+from qemu_test.linux_kernel import KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE
+from qemu_test.utils import extract_from_deb
+from qemu_test.utils import gzip_uncompress
+
+
+class MaltaMachineConsole(QemuSystemTest):
+
+    ASSET_KERNEL_2_63_2 = Asset(
+        ('http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/'
+         '20130217T032700Z/pool/main/l/linux-2.6/'
+         'linux-image-2.6.32-5-4kc-malta_2.6.32-48_mips.deb'),
+        '16ca524148afb0626f483163e5edf352bc1ab0e4fc7b9f9d473252762f2c7a43')
+
+    def test_mips_malta(self):
+        deb_path = self.ASSET_KERNEL_2_63_2.fetch()
+        kernel_path = extract_from_deb(deb_path, self.workdir,
+                                       '/boot/vmlinux-2.6.32-5-4kc-malta')
+
+        self.set_machine('malta')
+        self.vm.set_console()
+        kernel_command_line = KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE + 'console=ttyS0'
+        self.vm.add_args('-kernel', kernel_path,
+                         '-append', kernel_command_line)
+        self.vm.launch()
+        console_pattern = 'Kernel command line: %s' % kernel_command_line
+        linux_kernel_wait_for_pattern(self, console_pattern)
+
+    ASSET_KERNEL_4_5_0 = Asset(
+        ('http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/'
+         '20160601T041800Z/pool/main/l/linux/'
+         'linux-image-4.5.0-2-4kc-malta_4.5.5-1_mips.deb'),
+        '526b17d5889840888b76fc2c36a0ebde182c9b1410a3a1e68203c3b160eb2027')
+
+    ASSET_INITRD = Asset(
+        ('https://github.com/groeck/linux-build-test/raw/'
+         '8584a59ed9e5eb5ee7ca91f6d74bbb06619205b8/rootfs/'
+         'mips/rootfs.cpio.gz'),
+        'dcfe3a7fe3200da3a00d176b95caaa086495eb158f2bff64afc67d7e1eb2cddc')
+
+    def test_mips_malta_cpio(self):
+        deb_path = self.ASSET_KERNEL_4_5_0.fetch()
+        kernel_path = extract_from_deb(deb_path, self.workdir,
+                                       '/boot/vmlinux-4.5.0-2-4kc-malta')
+        initrd_path_gz = self.ASSET_INITRD.fetch()
+        initrd_path = os.path.join(self.workdir, 'rootfs.cpio')
+        gzip_uncompress(initrd_path_gz, initrd_path)
+
+        self.set_machine('malta')
+        self.vm.set_console()
+        kernel_command_line = (KERNEL_COMMON_COMMAND_LINE
+                               + 'console=ttyS0 console=tty '
+                               + 'rdinit=/sbin/init noreboot')
+        self.vm.add_args('-kernel', kernel_path,
+                         '-initrd', initrd_path,
+                         '-append', kernel_command_line,
+                         '-no-reboot')
+        self.vm.launch()
+        linux_kernel_wait_for_pattern(self, 'Boot successful.')
+
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'cat /proc/cpuinfo',
+                                                'BogoMIPS')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'uname -a',
+                                                'Debian')
+        exec_command_and_wait_for_pattern(self, 'reboot',
+                                                'reboot: Restarting system')
+        # Wait for VM to shut down gracefully
+        self.vm.wait()
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    QemuSystemTest.main()
