Tibetan semi-wild wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. tibetanum Shao) is a hexaploid wheat resource distributed only in Tibet that has an interesting type of seed dormancy in addition to hulled glumes and brittle spikelets. A whole-genome linkage map of T. aestivum ssp. tibetanum was constructed for a population of 186 recombinant inbred lines using 645 diversity array technology (DArT) markers, 127 simple sequence repeat markers and three R-1 genotyping markers. Seed dormancy was evaluated at five postripening stages from 2010 to 2013. Comprehensive quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping by inclusive composite interval mapping analysis identified seven QTLs for seed dormancy, designated as Qsd.sau-1B, Qsd.sau-3A, Qsd.sau-3B, Qsd.sau-3D, Qsd.sau-4A1, Qsd.sau-4A2, and Qsd.sau-7A, on chromosomes 1BL, 3AL, 3BL, 3DL, 4AS, 4AL, and 7AL, which explained 8.9, 7.2, 10.8, 7.0, 11.4, 9.4, and 12.7 % of phenotypic variation, respectively. Qsd.sau-4A1 and Qsd.sau-7A have only rarely been reported in domesticated common wheat but were prominent in T. aestivum ssp. tibetanum accession Q1028. Qsd.sau-4A1 was associated with intense, short-duration dormancy and was recognized as an ideal QTL for wheat breeding.