diff --git a/scripts/zfs-tests.sh b/scripts/zfs-tests.sh
index f00a28484..7c5286ba7 100755
--- a/scripts/zfs-tests.sh
+++ b/scripts/zfs-tests.sh
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ OPTIONS:
 	-f          Use files only, disables block device tests
 	-S          Enable stack tracer (negative performance impact)
 	-c          Only create and populate constrained path
+	-n NFSFILE  Use the nfsfile to determine the NFS configuration
 	-I NUM      Number of iterations
 	-d DIR      Use DIR for files and loopback devices
 	-s SIZE     Use vdevs of SIZE (default: 4G)
@@ -295,7 +296,7 @@ $0 -x
 EOF
 }
 
-while getopts 'hvqxkfScd:s:r:?t:T:u:I:' OPTION; do
+while getopts 'hvqxkfScn:d:s:r:?t:T:u:I:' OPTION; do
 	case $OPTION in
 	h)
 		usage
@@ -324,6 +325,12 @@ while getopts 'hvqxkfScd:s:r:?t:T:u:I:' OPTION; do
 		constrain_path
 		exit
 		;;
+	n)
+		nfsfile=$OPTARG
+		[[ -f $nfsfile ]] || fail "Cannot read file: $nfsfile"
+		export NFS=1
+		. "$nfsfile"
+		;;
 	d)
 		FILEDIR="$OPTARG"
 		;;
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/include/commands.cfg b/tests/zfs-tests/include/commands.cfg
index 78ba2488d..127a1477d 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/include/commands.cfg
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/include/commands.cfg
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ export SYSTEM_FILES='arp
     readlink
     rm
     rmdir
+    scp
     sed
     seq
     setenforce
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ export SYSTEM_FILES='arp
     shuf
     sleep
     sort
+    ssh
     stat
     strings
     su
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/Makefile.am b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/Makefile.am
index d31bba0e2..68dd31ec1 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 pkgdatadir = $(datadir)/@PACKAGE@/zfs-tests/tests/perf
-dist_pkgdata_DATA = perf.shlib
+dist_pkgdata_SCRIPTS = \
+	nfs-sample.cfg \
+	perf.shlib
 
 SUBDIRS = \
 	fio \
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_reads.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_reads.fio
index 79610f9b2..e6e7034e0 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_reads.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_reads.fio
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bs=${BLOCKSIZE}
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 
 [job]
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite.fio
index 7d01c38ad..852d4bed6 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite.fio
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bssplit=4k/50:8k/30:128k/10:1m/10
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 buffer_compress_percentage=66
 buffer_compress_chunk=4096
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite_fixed.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite_fixed.fio
index ed4495553..67b88c09d 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite_fixed.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_readwrite_fixed.fio
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bs=${BLOCKSIZE}
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 buffer_compress_percentage=66
 buffer_compress_chunk=4096
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_writes.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_writes.fio
index 5e2cb3002..90db5ce3b 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_writes.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/random_writes.fio
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bs=${BLOCKSIZE}
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 filesize=${FILESIZE}
 buffer_compress_percentage=66
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_reads.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_reads.fio
index 33a9a1d89..b4b45e084 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_reads.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_reads.fio
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bs=${BLOCKSIZE}
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 
 [job]
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_writes.fio b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_writes.fio
index 65a65910f..714993e92 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_writes.fio
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/fio/sequential_writes.fio
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ runtime=${RUNTIME}
 bs=${BLOCKSIZE}
 ioengine=psync
 sync=${SYNC_TYPE}
+direct=${DIRECT}
 numjobs=${NUMJOBS}
 filesize=${FILESIZE}
 buffer_compress_percentage=66
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/nfs-sample.cfg b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/nfs-sample.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7ac2dae3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/nfs-sample.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#
+# This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the
+# Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0.
+# You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version
+# 1.0 of the CDDL.
+#
+# A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this
+# source.  A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at
+# http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL.
+#
+
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2016 by Delphix. All rights reserved.
+#
+
+#
+# This file is a sample NFS configuration for the performance tests. To use the
+# performance tests over NFS you must have:
+#   - a client machine with fio and sudo installed
+#   - passwordless SSH set up from this host
+#     for delphix and root users to the client
+#   - passwordless sudo for the user on the client
+#
+
+
+# The IP address for the server
+export NFS_SERVER=127.0.0.1
+
+# The IP address for the client
+export NFS_CLIENT=127.0.0.1
+
+# The mountpoint to use inside the client
+export NFS_MOUNT=/var/tmp/nfs
+
+# The user to run the tests as on the client
+export NFS_USER=delphix
+
+# Common NFS client mount options
+export NFS_OPTIONS="-o rw,nosuid,bg,hard,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,"
+NFS_OPTIONS+="nointr,timeo=600,proto=tcp,actimeo=0,port=2049"
+
+# illumos NFS client mount options
+# export NFS_OPTIONS="$NFS_OPTIONS,vers=3"
+
+# Linux NFS client mount options
+export NFS_OPTIONS="-t nfs $NFS_OPTIONS,noacl,nfsvers=3"
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/perf.shlib b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/perf.shlib
index 7165df759..69e61e9fd 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/perf.shlib
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/perf.shlib
@@ -112,6 +112,16 @@ function do_fio_run_impl
 	export BLOCKSIZE=$iosize
 	sync
 
+	# When running locally, we want to keep the default behavior of
+	# DIRECT == 0, so only set it when we're running over NFS to
+	# disable client cache for reads.
+	if [[ $NFS -eq 1 ]]; then
+		export DIRECT=1
+		do_setup_nfs $script
+	else
+		export DIRECT=0
+	fi
+
 	# This will be part of the output filename.
 	typeset suffix=$(get_suffix $threads $sync $iosize)
 
@@ -124,7 +134,14 @@ function do_fio_run_impl
 	typeset outfile="$logbase.fio.$suffix"
 
 	# Start the load
-	log_must fio --output $outfile $FIO_SCRIPTS/$script
+	if [[ $NFS -eq 1 ]]; then
+		log_must ssh -t $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT "
+			fio --output /tmp/fio.out /tmp/test.fio
+		"
+		log_must scp $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT:/tmp/fio.out $outfile
+	else
+		log_must fio --output $outfile $FIO_SCRIPTS/$script
+	fi
 }
 
 #
@@ -166,6 +183,34 @@ function do_fio_run
 	done
 }
 
+# This function sets NFS mount on the client and make sure all correct
+# permissions are in place
+#
+function do_setup_nfs
+{
+	typeset script=$1
+	zfs  set sharenfs=on $TESTFS
+	log_must chmod  -R 777 /$TESTFS
+
+	ssh -t $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT "mkdir -m 777 -p $NFS_MOUNT"
+	ssh -t $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT "sudo -S umount $NFS_MOUNT"
+	log_must ssh -t $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT "
+		sudo -S mount $NFS_OPTIONS $NFS_SERVER:/$TESTFS $NFS_MOUNT
+	"
+	#
+	# The variables in the fio script are only available in our current
+	# shell session, so we have to evaluate them here before copying
+	# the resulting script over to the target machine.
+	#
+	export jobnum='$jobnum'
+	while read line; do
+		eval echo "$line"
+	done < $FIO_SCRIPTS/$script > /tmp/test.fio
+	log_must sed -i -e "s%directory.*%directory=$NFS_MOUNT%" /tmp/test.fio
+	log_must scp /tmp/test.fio $NFS_USER@$NFS_CLIENT:/tmp
+	log_must rm /tmp/test.fio
+}
+
 #
 # This function iterates through the value pairs in $PERF_COLLECT_SCRIPTS.
 # The script at index N is launched in the background, with its output
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/regression/random_writes_zil.ksh b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/regression/random_writes_zil.ksh
index 0f3256351..e0b253200 100755
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/regression/random_writes_zil.ksh
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/tests/perf/regression/random_writes_zil.ksh
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ elif [[ -n $PERF_REGRESSION_NIGHTLY ]]; then
 	export PERF_IOSIZES=${PERF_IOSIZES:-'8k'}
 fi
 
+# Until the performance tests over NFS can deal with multiple file systems,
+# force the use of only one file system when testing over NFS.
+[[ $NFS -eq 1 ]] && PERF_NTHREADS_PER_FS='0'
+
 lun_list=$(pool_to_lun_list $PERFPOOL)
 log_note "Collecting backend IO stats with lun list $lun_list"
 if is_linux; then