diff --git a/gnu/tests/install.scm b/gnu/tests/install.scm
index 90e1ca6e75..36dbd9111f 100644
--- a/gnu/tests/install.scm
+++ b/gnu/tests/install.scm
@@ -289,6 +289,12 @@ (define install
             (define marionette
               (make-marionette
                `(,(which #$(qemu-command system))
+                 ;; Neither of these architectures have a default machine.
+                 ,@(if (or (string=? "aarch64-linux" #$system)
+                           (string=? "armhf-linux" #$system))
+                       '("-machine" "virt"
+                         "-cpu" "host")
+                       '())
                  "-no-reboot"
                  "-m" "1200"
                  ,@(if #$uefi-firmware
@@ -363,6 +369,12 @@ (define* (qemu-command* images #:key (uefi-support? #f) (memory-size 256))
                 (use-modules (srfi srfi-1))
                 `(,(string-append #$qemu-minimal "/bin/"
                                   #$(qemu-command system))
+                  ;; Neither of these architectures have a default machine.
+                  ,@(if (or (string=? "aarch64-linux" #$system)
+                            (string=? "armhf-linux" #$system))
+                        '("-machine" "virt"
+                          "-cpu" "host")
+                        '())
                   "-snapshot"           ;for the volatile, writable overlay
                   ,@(if (file-exists? "/dev/kvm")
                         '("-enable-kvm")