diff --git a/gnu/build/vm.scm b/gnu/build/vm.scm
index a095f9de8ab922bac117bb2c870f934b0edcba02..48e701adbe31ed98a0a364408b3cb4e741e42e4a 100644
--- a/gnu/build/vm.scm
+++ b/gnu/build/vm.scm
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
 ;;; Copyright © 2013, 2014, 2015 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2016 Christopher Allan Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2016 Leo Famulari <leo@famulari.name>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ (define image-file
     (_ #f))
 
   (unless (zero?
-           (apply system* qemu "-enable-kvm" "-nographic" "-no-reboot"
+           (apply system* qemu "-nographic" "-no-reboot"
                   "-m" (number->string memory-size)
                   "-net" "nic,model=virtio"
                   "-virtfs"
@@ -111,10 +113,17 @@ (define image-file
                   "-initrd" initrd
                   "-append" (string-append "console=ttyS0 --load="
                                            builder)
-                  (if make-disk-image?
-                      `("-drive" ,(string-append "file=" image-file
-                                                 ",if=virtio"))
-                      '())))
+                  (append
+                   (if make-disk-image?
+                       `("-drive" ,(string-append "file=" image-file
+                                                  ",if=virtio"))
+                       '())
+                   ;; Only enable kvm if we see /dev/kvm exists.
+                   ;; This allows users without hardware virtualization to still
+                   ;; use these commands.
+                   (if (file-exists? "/dev/kvm")
+                       '("-enable-kvm")
+                       '()))))
     (error "qemu failed" qemu))
 
   (if make-disk-image?
diff --git a/gnu/system/vm.scm b/gnu/system/vm.scm
index a7c03bda17de0257d9c7672cdc22079bed814c7e..58a476a4683b5bac421ac1902483e30134fbc806 100644
--- a/gnu/system/vm.scm
+++ b/gnu/system/vm.scm
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
 ;;; Copyright © 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2016 Christopher Allan Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2016 Leo Famulari <leo@famulari.name>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
 ;;;
@@ -457,7 +459,13 @@ (define (virtfs-option fs)
                      "\" "))
 
   #~(string-append
-     " -enable-kvm -no-reboot -net nic,model=virtio \
+     ;; Only enable kvm if we see /dev/kvm exists.
+     ;; This allows users without hardware virtualization to still use these
+     ;; commands.
+     #$(if (file-exists? "/dev/kvm")
+           " -enable-kvm "
+           "")
+     " -no-reboot -net nic,model=virtio \
   " #$@(map virtfs-option shared-fs) " \
   -net user \
   -serial stdio -vga std \