diff --git a/doc/configuration.rst b/doc/configuration.rst
index d3cb73dc9..2cb90c64f 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/configuration.rst
@@ -1160,6 +1160,7 @@ Arguments:
     ASRL, TCPIP...
   - url (str): device identifier on selected resource, e.g. <ip> for TCPIP
     resource
+  - backend (str): Visa library backend, e.g. '@sim' for pyvisa-sim backend
 
 Used by:
   - `PyVISADriver`_
diff --git a/labgrid/driver/pyvisadriver.py b/labgrid/driver/pyvisadriver.py
index 5d3b4b249..044375cc5 100644
--- a/labgrid/driver/pyvisadriver.py
+++ b/labgrid/driver/pyvisadriver.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class PyVISADriver(Driver):
     def __attrs_post_init__(self):
         super().__attrs_post_init__()
         _py_pyvisa_module = import_module('pyvisa')
-        self._pyvisa_resource_manager = _py_pyvisa_module.ResourceManager()
+        self._pyvisa_resource_manager = _py_pyvisa_module.ResourceManager(self.pyvisa_resource.backend)
         self.pyvisa_device = None
 
     def on_activate(self):
diff --git a/labgrid/resource/pyvisa.py b/labgrid/resource/pyvisa.py
index d1a93e89f..2228ea74b 100644
--- a/labgrid/resource/pyvisa.py
+++ b/labgrid/resource/pyvisa.py
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ class PyVISADevice(Resource):
     Args:
         type (str): device resource type following the pyVISA resource syntax, e.g. ASRL, TCPIP...
         url (str): device identifier on selected resource, e.g. <ip> for TCPIP resource
+        backend (str, default=''): Visa library backend, e.g. '@sim' for pyvisa-sim backend
     """
     type = attr.ib(validator=attr.validators.instance_of(str))
     url = attr.ib(validator=attr.validators.instance_of(str))
+    backend = attr.ib(default='', validator=attr.validators.instance_of(str))