diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 6905ff4..40ba6c0 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ pub struct Target {
     /// Arch to run
     #[serde(default = "Target::default_arch")]
     pub arch: String,
+    /// Command used to launch QEMU
+    pub qemu_command: Option<String>,
     /// Command to run inside virtual machine.
     pub command: String,
 
@@ -139,6 +141,7 @@ impl Default for Target {
             kernel_args: None,
             rootfs: Self::default_rootfs(),
             arch: Self::default_arch(),
+            qemu_command: None,
             command: "".into(),
             vm: VMConfig::default(),
         }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 8f751dd..2b98e5d 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ struct Args {
     /// Arch to run
     #[clap(short, long, default_value = ARCH, conflicts_with = "config")]
     arch: String,
+    /// Command to use to launch QEMU. Can be a full path or a PATH-resolved binary. If none is
+    /// provided, we default to `qemu-system-$ARCH`, where $ARCH is the value of the `arch`
+    /// argument
+    #[clap(short, long, conflicts_with = "config")]
+    qemu_command: Option<String>,
     /// Command to run in kernel mode. `-` to get an interactive shell.
     #[clap(conflicts_with = "config")]
     command: Vec<String>,
@@ -113,6 +118,7 @@ fn config(args: &Args) -> Result<Vmtest> {
                     rootfs: args.rootfs.clone(),
                     arch: args.arch.clone(),
                     kernel_args: args.kargs.clone(),
+                    qemu_command: args.qemu_command.clone(),
                     command: args.command.join(" "),
                     vm: VMConfig::default(),
                 }],
diff --git a/src/qemu.rs b/src/qemu.rs
index 24323ef..d1bcfdb 100644
--- a/src/qemu.rs
+++ b/src/qemu.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
 use std::fs;
 use std::hash::Hash;
 use std::hash::Hasher;
-use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, Read, Write};
+use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, ErrorKind, Read, Write};
 use std::marker::Send;
 use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
 use std::os::unix::net::UnixStream;
@@ -655,8 +655,13 @@ impl Qemu {
         let qmp_sock = gen_sock("qmp");
         let command_sock = gen_sock("cmdout");
         let (init, guest_init) = gen_init(&target.rootfs).context("Failed to generate init")?;
+        let program = target
+            .qemu_command
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("qemu-system-{}", target.arch));
+        Self::verify_qemu_exists(&program)?;
 
-        let mut c = Command::new(format!("qemu-system-{}", target.arch));
+        // Start the main QEMU process
+        let mut c = Command::new(program);
 
         c.args(QEMU_DEFAULT_ARGS)
             .stderr(Stdio::piped())
@@ -974,6 +979,26 @@ impl Qemu {
         err
     }
 
+    fn verify_qemu_exists(qemu_program: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        if let Err(e) = Command::new(&qemu_program)
+            .arg("--help")
+            .stdout(Stdio::null())
+            .stderr(Stdio::null())
+            .spawn()
+        {
+            if let ErrorKind::NotFound = e.kind() {
+                Err(e).context(format!(
+                    "Did not find QEMU binary {qemu_program}. Make sure QEMU is installed"
+                ))
+            } else {
+                warn!("Failed to verify that qemu is installed due to error, continuing... {e}");
+                Ok(())
+            }
+        } else {
+            Ok(())
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Boot the VM and connect to QGA
     ///
     /// Returns the child process and QGA wrapper on success, an error otherwise.