diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-coco-dev.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-coco-dev.toml.in
index 05ef3b54bb..4d6d5c31f3 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-coco-dev.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-coco-dev.toml.in
@@ -273,6 +273,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp.toml.in
index c5088ce01b..26d6468022 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp.toml.in
@@ -290,6 +290,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx.toml.in
index 123b2a2be7..f615633c1a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx.toml.in
@@ -266,6 +266,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu.toml.in
index 8f92987f96..d5b0c037ec 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-nvidia-gpu.toml.in
@@ -271,6 +271,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-se.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-se.toml.in
index fba6f4c34d..2af86d8c1f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-se.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-se.toml.in
@@ -257,6 +257,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-snp.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-snp.toml.in
index e6d5dcd2bf..f51cf6c5cd 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-snp.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-snp.toml.in
@@ -290,6 +290,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-tdx.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-tdx.toml.in
index de8b34c436..d84ec3cf39 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-tdx.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu-tdx.toml.in
@@ -267,6 +267,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
index 4afb3291ed..40ed29aeb8 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
@@ -272,6 +272,16 @@ enable_iothreads = @DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@
 # Default false
 #enable_mem_prealloc = true
 
+# Reclaim guest freed memory.
+# Enabling this will result in the VM balloon device having f_reporting=on set.
+# Then the hypervisor will use it to reclaim guest freed memory.
+# This is useful for reducing the amount of memory used by a VM.
+# Enabling this feature may sometimes reduce the speed of memory access in
+# the VM.
+#
+# Default false
+#reclaim_guest_freed_memory = true
+
 # Enable huge pages for VM RAM, default false
 # Enabling this will result in the VM memory
 # being allocated using huge pages.
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/device/config/config.go b/src/runtime/pkg/device/config/config.go
index 42bcccff8a..f535b3ebca 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/device/config/config.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/device/config/config.go
@@ -439,6 +439,14 @@ type RNGDev struct {
 	Filename string
 }
 
+// BalloonDev represents a balloon device
+type BalloonDev struct {
+	ID                string
+	DeflateOnOOM      bool
+	DisableModern     bool
+	FreePageReporting bool
+}
+
 // VhostUserDeviceAttrs represents data shared by most vhost-user devices
 type VhostUserDeviceAttrs struct {
 	DevID      string
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu.go b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu.go
index 249a12c856..718156705a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu.go
@@ -2409,9 +2409,10 @@ func (v RngDevice) deviceName(config *Config) string {
 // BalloonDevice represents a memory balloon device.
 // nolint: govet
 type BalloonDevice struct {
-	DeflateOnOOM  bool
-	DisableModern bool
-	ID            string
+	DeflateOnOOM      bool
+	DisableModern     bool
+	FreePageReporting bool
+	ID                string
 
 	// ROMFile specifies the ROM file being used for this device.
 	ROMFile string
@@ -2458,6 +2459,11 @@ func (b BalloonDevice) QemuParams(config *Config) []string {
 	if s := b.Transport.disableModern(config, b.DisableModern); s != "" {
 		deviceParams = append(deviceParams, s)
 	}
+	if b.FreePageReporting {
+		deviceParams = append(deviceParams, "free-page-reporting=on")
+	} else {
+		deviceParams = append(deviceParams, "free-page-reporting=off")
+	}
 	qemuParams = append(qemuParams, "-device")
 	qemuParams = append(qemuParams, strings.Join(deviceParams, ","))
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_arch_base_test.go b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_arch_base_test.go
index 10fd0bdffa..a14e0fb032 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_arch_base_test.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_arch_base_test.go
@@ -80,14 +80,19 @@ func TestAppendVirtioBalloon(t *testing.T) {
 	var OnDisableModern = ",disable-modern=true"
 	var OffDisableModern = ",disable-modern=false"
 
-	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OffDeflateOnOMM+OffDisableModern, t)
+	var OnFreePageReporting = ",free-page-reporting=on"
+	var OffFreePageReporting = ",free-page-reporting=off"
+
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OffDeflateOnOMM+OffDisableModern+OffFreePageReporting, t)
 
 	balloonDevice.DeflateOnOOM = true
-	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OnDeflateOnOMM+OffDisableModern, t)
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OnDeflateOnOMM+OffDisableModern+OffFreePageReporting, t)
 
 	balloonDevice.DisableModern = true
-	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OnDeflateOnOMM+OnDisableModern, t)
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OnDeflateOnOMM+OnDisableModern+OffFreePageReporting, t)
 
+	balloonDevice.FreePageReporting = true
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+OnDeflateOnOMM+OnDisableModern+OnFreePageReporting, t)
 }
 
 func TestAppendPCIBridgeDevice(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_s390x_test.go b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_s390x_test.go
index 311e286e94..5e36623bbf 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_s390x_test.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/govmm/qemu/qemu_s390x_test.go
@@ -35,10 +35,17 @@ func TestAppendVirtioBalloon(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var OnDeflateOnOMM = ",deflate-on-oom=on"
 	var OffDeflateOnOMM = ",deflate-on-oom=off"
-	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+devnoOptios+OffDeflateOnOMM, t)
+
+	var OnFreePageReporting = ",free-page-reporting=on"
+	var OffFreePageReporting = ",free-page-reporting=off"
+
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+devnoOptios+OffDeflateOnOMM+OffFreePageReporting, t)
 
 	balloonDevice.DeflateOnOOM = true
-	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+devnoOptios+OnDeflateOnOMM, t)
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+devnoOptios+OnDeflateOnOMM+OffFreePageReporting, t)
+
+	balloonDevice.FreePageReporting = true
+	testAppend(balloonDevice, deviceString+devnoOptios+OnDeflateOnOMM+OnFreePageReporting, t)
 }
 
 func TestAppendDeviceFSCCW(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/src/runtime/pkg/katautils/config.go b/src/runtime/pkg/katautils/config.go
index 85f6c72588..39d2739ce7 100644
--- a/src/runtime/pkg/katautils/config.go
+++ b/src/runtime/pkg/katautils/config.go
@@ -952,6 +952,7 @@ func newQemuHypervisorConfig(h hypervisor) (vc.HypervisorConfig, error) {
 		VirtioFSQueueSize:        h.VirtioFSQueueSize,
 		VirtioFSExtraArgs:        h.VirtioFSExtraArgs,
 		MemPrealloc:              h.MemPrealloc,
+		ReclaimGuestFreedMemory:  h.ReclaimGuestFreedMemory,
 		HugePages:                h.HugePages,
 		IOMMU:                    h.IOMMU,
 		IOMMUPlatform:            h.getIOMMUPlatform(),
diff --git a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu.go b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu.go
index e7d00f7ea3..282d1d1a95 100644
--- a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu.go
+++ b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu.go
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ const (
 	scsiControllerID         = "scsi0"
 	rngID                    = "rng0"
 	fallbackFileBackedMemDir = "/dev/shm"
+	balloonID                = "balloon0"
 
 	qemuStopSandboxTimeoutSecs = 15
 
@@ -632,6 +633,9 @@ func (q *qemu) prepareInitdataMount(config *HypervisorConfig) error {
 }
 
 // CreateVM is the Hypervisor VM creation implementation for govmmQemu.
+// This function is complex and there's not much to be done about it, unfortunately.
+//
+//nolint:gocyclo
 func (q *qemu) CreateVM(ctx context.Context, id string, network Network, hypervisorConfig *HypervisorConfig) error {
 	// Save the tracing context
 	q.ctx = ctx
@@ -801,6 +805,20 @@ func (q *qemu) CreateVM(ctx context.Context, id string, network Network, hypervi
 		}
 	}
 
+	if q.config.ReclaimGuestFreedMemory && !q.config.ConfidentialGuest {
+		balloonDev := config.BalloonDev{
+			ID:                balloonID,
+			DeflateOnOOM:      true,
+			DisableModern:     false,
+			FreePageReporting: true,
+		}
+
+		qemuConfig.Devices, err = q.arch.appendBalloonDevice(ctx, qemuConfig.Devices, balloonDev)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	if machine.Type == QemuQ35 || machine.Type == QemuVirt {
 		if err := q.createPCIeTopology(&qemuConfig, hypervisorConfig, machine.Type, network); err != nil {
 			q.Logger().WithError(err).Errorf("Cannot create PCIe topology")
diff --git a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
index 18c193628c..2b6ab7ce5b 100644
--- a/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
+++ b/src/runtime/virtcontainers/qemu_arch_base.go
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ type qemuArch interface {
 	// appendRNGDevice appends a RNG device to devices
 	appendRNGDevice(ctx context.Context, devices []govmmQemu.Device, rngDevice config.RNGDev) ([]govmmQemu.Device, error)
 
+	// appendBalloonDevice appends a Balloon device to devices
+	appendBalloonDevice(ctx context.Context, devices []govmmQemu.Device, BalloonDevice config.BalloonDev) ([]govmmQemu.Device, error)
+
 	// setEndpointDevicePath sets the appropriate PCI or CCW device path for an endpoint
 	setEndpointDevicePath(endpoint Endpoint, bridgeAddr int, devAddr string) error
 
@@ -738,6 +741,19 @@ func (q *qemuArchBase) appendRNGDevice(_ context.Context, devices []govmmQemu.De
 	return devices, nil
 }
 
+func (q *qemuArchBase) appendBalloonDevice(_ context.Context, devices []govmmQemu.Device, balloonDev config.BalloonDev) ([]govmmQemu.Device, error) {
+	devices = append(devices,
+		govmmQemu.BalloonDevice{
+			ID:                balloonDev.ID,
+			DeflateOnOOM:      balloonDev.DeflateOnOOM,
+			DisableModern:     balloonDev.DisableModern,
+			FreePageReporting: balloonDev.FreePageReporting,
+		},
+	)
+
+	return devices, nil
+}
+
 func (q *qemuArchBase) setEndpointDevicePath(endpoint Endpoint, bridgeAddr int, devAddr string) error {
 	bridgeSlot, err := types.PciSlotFromInt(bridgeAddr)
 	if err != nil {