diff --git a/tests/boot-serial-test.c b/tests/boot-serial-test.c
index 11f48b049c..a8ca877168 100644
--- a/tests/boot-serial-test.c
+++ b/tests/boot-serial-test.c
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@ static void test_machine(const void *data)
     fd = mkstemp(tmpname);
     g_assert(fd != -1);
 
-    args = g_strdup_printf("-M %s,accel=tcg -chardev file,id=serial0,path=%s"
-                           " -no-shutdown -serial chardev:serial0 %s",
+    args = g_strdup_printf("-M %s,accel=kvm:tcg "
+                           "-chardev file,id=serial0,path=%s "
+                           "-no-shutdown -serial chardev:serial0 %s",
                            test->machine, tmpname, test->extra);
 
     qtest_start(args);