diff --git a/python/Makefile b/python/Makefile
index b6c9cd1bce..42994d3961 100644
--- a/python/Makefile
+++ b/python/Makefile
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ develop:
 
 .PHONY: check
 check:
-	@avocado --config avocado.cfg run tests/
+	@pytest -v tests/*.py
 
 .PHONY: check-tox
 check-tox:
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ check-tox:
 
 .PHONY: check-coverage
 check-coverage:
-	@coverage run -m avocado --config avocado.cfg run tests/*.py
+	@coverage run -m pytest -v tests/*.py
 	@coverage combine
 	@coverage html
 	@coverage report
diff --git a/python/setup.cfg b/python/setup.cfg
index c46a95f8d4..0334452673 100644
--- a/python/setup.cfg
+++ b/python/setup.cfg
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ devel =
     mypy >= 1.4.0
     pylint >= 2.17.3
     pylint != 3.2.4; python_version<"3.9"
+    pytest >= 6.0.2
     tox >= 3.18.0
     sphinx >= 3.4.3
 
diff --git a/python/tests/linters.py b/python/tests/linters.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9696c0b71b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/tests/linters.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+import os
+from subprocess import check_call
+import sys
+
+
+class TestLinters:
+
+    def test_flake8_pkg(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "flake8", "qemu/"])
+
+    def test_flake8_scripts(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "flake8", "scripts/"])
+
+    def test_flake8_qapi(self):
+        check_call(
+            [
+                sys.executable,
+                "-m",
+                "flake8",
+                "../scripts/qapi/",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapidoc.py",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapi_domain.py",
+            ]
+        )
+
+    def test_isort_pkg(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "isort", "-c", "qemu/"])
+
+    def test_isort_scripts(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "isort", "-c", "scripts/"])
+
+    def test_isort_qapi(self):
+        check_call(
+            [
+                sys.executable,
+                "-m",
+                "isort",
+                "--sp",
+                ".",
+                "-c",
+                "../scripts/qapi/",
+            ]
+        )
+
+    def test_isort_qapi_sphinx(self):
+        # Force isort to recognize 'compat' as a local module and not
+        # third-party
+        check_call(
+            [
+                sys.executable,
+                "-m",
+                "isort",
+                "--sp",
+                ".",
+                "-c",
+                "-p",
+                "compat",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapi_domain.py",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapidoc.py",
+            ]
+        )
+
+    def test_mypy_pkg(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "mypy", "-p", "qemu"])
+
+    def test_mypy_scripts(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "mypy", "scripts/"])
+
+    def test_mypy_qapi(self):
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "mypy", "../scripts/qapi"])
+
+    def test_mypy_iotests(self):
+        check_call(
+            [sys.executable, "-m", "linters", "--mypy"],
+            cwd="../tests/qemu-iotests/",
+        )
+
+    # Setuptools v60 introduced the SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS=stdlib
+    # workaround; stdlib distutils was fully removed in Python
+    # 3.12+. Once we are on >=3.12+ exclusively, this workaround can be
+    # dropped safely. Until then, it is needed for some versions on
+    # Fedora/Debian distributions which relied upon distro-patched
+    # setuptools present in CPython, but not within setuptools itself.
+
+    def test_pylint_pkg(self):
+        os.environ["SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS"] = "stdlib"
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "pylint", "qemu/"])
+
+    def test_pylint_scripts(self):
+        os.environ["SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS"] = "stdlib"
+        check_call([sys.executable, "-m", "pylint", "scripts/"])
+
+    def test_pylint_qapi(self):
+        os.environ["SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS"] = "stdlib"
+        check_call(
+            [
+                sys.executable,
+                "-m",
+                "pylint",
+                "--rcfile=../scripts/qapi/pylintrc",
+                "../scripts/qapi/",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapidoc.py",
+                "../docs/sphinx/qapi_domain.py",
+            ]
+        )
+
+    def test_pylint_iotests(self):
+        os.environ["SETUPTOOLS_USE_DISTUTILS"] = "stdlib"
+        check_call(
+            [sys.executable, "-m", "linters", "--pylint"],
+            cwd="../tests/qemu-iotests/",
+        )
diff --git a/python/tests/minreqs.txt b/python/tests/minreqs.txt
index 38b17d17e1..1991202707 100644
--- a/python/tests/minreqs.txt
+++ b/python/tests/minreqs.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ fusepy==2.0.4
 
 # Test-runners, utilities, etc.
 avocado-framework==90.0
+pytest==6.0.2
 
 # Linters
 flake8==5.0.4