diff --git a/tests/xfs/070 b/tests/xfs/070
index 0ae6effa..81111d5d 100755
--- a/tests/xfs/070
+++ b/tests/xfs/070
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ _cleanup()
 _xfs_repair_noscan()
 {
 	# invoke repair directly so we can kill the process if need be
-	$XFS_REPAIR_PROG $SCRATCH_DEV 2>&1 | tee -a $seqres.full > $tmp.repair &
+	[ "$USE_EXTERNAL" = yes ] && [ -n "$SCRATCH_RTDEV" ] && \
+		rt_repair_opts="-r $SCRATCH_RTDEV"
+	$XFS_REPAIR_PROG $rt_repair_opts $SCRATCH_DEV 2>&1 |
+		tee -a $seqres.full > $tmp.repair &
 	repair_pid=$!
 
 	# monitor progress for as long as it is running
diff --git a/tests/xfs/291 b/tests/xfs/291
index 3f5295c5..fd5c1f1c 100755
--- a/tests/xfs/291
+++ b/tests/xfs/291
@@ -122,7 +122,10 @@ _xfs_check $SCRATCH_DEV >> $seqres.full 2>&1 || _fail "xfs_check failed"
 # Can xfs_metadump cope with this monster?
 _scratch_metadump $tmp.metadump || _fail "xfs_metadump failed"
 xfs_mdrestore $tmp.metadump $tmp.img || _fail "xfs_mdrestore failed"
-xfs_repair -f $tmp.img >> $seqres.full 2>&1 || _fail "xfs_repair of metadump failed"
+[ "$USE_EXTERNAL" = yes ] && [ -n "$SCRATCH_RTDEV" ] && \
+	rt_repair_opts="-r $SCRATCH_RTDEV"
+$XFS_REPAIR_PROG $rt_repair_opts -f $tmp.img >> $seqres.full 2>&1 || \
+	_fail "xfs_repair of metadump failed"
 
 # Yes it can; success, all done
 status=0