diff --git a/gnu/system/vm.scm b/gnu/system/vm.scm
index 39ce5bb6ef..7d0ffd971e 100644
--- a/gnu/system/vm.scm
+++ b/gnu/system/vm.scm
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ the image."
           (let ((graphs '#$(match inputs
                              (((names . _) ...)
                               names))))
-            (initialize-hard-disk "/dev/sda"
+            (initialize-hard-disk "/dev/vda"
                                   #:grub.cfg #$grub-configuration
                                   #:closures graphs
                                   #:copy-closures? #$copy-inputs?
diff --git a/guix/build/vm.scm b/guix/build/vm.scm
index 4de536abb4..e559542f0a 100644
--- a/guix/build/vm.scm
+++ b/guix/build/vm.scm
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ the #:references-graphs parameter of 'derivation'."
                   "-append" (string-append "console=ttyS0 --load="
                                            builder)
                   (if make-disk-image?
-                      `("-hda" ,image-file)
+                      `("-drive" ,(string-append "file=" image-file
+                                                 ",if=virtio"))
                       '())))
     (error "qemu failed" qemu))