diff --git a/osd-initiator/tests/iospeed.c b/osd-initiator/tests/iospeed.c
index 8594561..96c3f01 100644
--- a/osd-initiator/tests/iospeed.c
+++ b/osd-initiator/tests/iospeed.c
@@ -215,7 +215,9 @@ static void write_bw(int fd, uint64_t pid, uint64_t oid,
 
 static void usage(void)
 {
-	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [<size in kbytes>]\n", osd_get_progname());
+	fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [-f] [<size>]\n", osd_get_progname());
+	fprintf(stderr, "  -f    format and create partition before test\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "  size  i/o size in kbytes\n");
 	exit(1);
 }
 
@@ -226,18 +228,23 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	const int iter = 100;
 	uint64_t oid;
 	int onesize = 0;
+	int doformat = 0;
 
 	osd_set_progname(argc, argv); 
 
-	if (argc == 1) {
-		;
-	} else if (argc == 2) {
+	argc--;
+	argv++;
+	for (i=0; argc && i<2; argc--, argv++, i++) {
+		if (strcmp(argv[0], "-f") == 0) {
+			doformat = 1;
+			continue;
+		}
 		char *cp;
-		onesize = strtoul(argv[1], &cp, 0);
-		if (*cp != '\0')
-			usage();
+		onesize = strtoul(argv[0], &cp, 0);
+		if (*cp != '\0') break;
 		onesize <<= 10;
-	} else {
+	}
+	if (argc) {
 		usage();
 	}
 
@@ -262,8 +269,10 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	inquiry(fd);
 
-	format_osd(fd, 1<<30); 
-	create_partition(fd, PARTITION_PID_LB);
+	if (doformat) {
+		format_osd(fd, 1<<30); 
+		create_partition(fd, PARTITION_PID_LB);
+	}
 
 	oid = obj_create_any(fd, PARTITION_PID_LB);