diff --git a/virttest/utils_misc.py b/virttest/utils_misc.py
index c6a3104..61ffb23 100644
--- a/virttest/utils_misc.py
+++ b/virttest/utils_misc.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import tarfile
 import shutil
 import getpass
 import ctypes
+import platform
 from autotest.client import utils, os_dep
 from autotest.client.shared import error, logging_config
 from autotest.client.shared import git
@@ -1697,7 +1698,7 @@ def get_qemu_binary(params):
             qemu_binary = find_command('qemu-kvm')
             logging.debug('Found %s', qemu_binary)
         except ValueError:
-            qemu_binary = find_command('kvm')
+            qemu_binary = find_command('qemu-system-%s' % platform.machine())
             logging.debug('Found %s', qemu_binary)
     else:
         library_path = os.path.join(_get_backend_dir(params), 'install_root', 'lib')