diff --git a/build-vm b/build-vm
index 48d8623b2..dd59f2657 100644
--- a/build-vm
+++ b/build-vm
@@ -907,14 +907,14 @@ vm_first_stage() {
     # some time has passed copying files, lets make sure we should not exit
     check_exit
 
-    # do vm specific fixups
-    vm_fixup
-
     # update the hostarch
     if test -n "$VM_ROOT" ; then
 	vm_update_hostarch
     fi
 
+    # do vm specific fixups
+    vm_fixup
+
     # copy ccache archive
     if test -n "$CCACHE" -a -n "$CCACHE_ARCHIVE" -a "$CCACHE_ARCHIVE" = "${CCACHE_ARCHIVE#redis://}"; then
 	mkdir -p "$BUILD_ROOT/.build.oldpackages"
diff --git a/build-vm-qemu b/build-vm-qemu
index 70a289a6d..9b8abd94f 100644
--- a/build-vm-qemu
+++ b/build-vm-qemu
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
     case $BUILD_HOST_ARCH in
         armv6l|armv7l)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-arm"
-            qemu_console=ttyAMA0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyAMA0}
             qemu_options="-M virt"
             qemu_device=virtio-blk-device
             qemu_rng_device=virtio-rng-device
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
             ;;
         armv8l|aarch32|aarch64|aarch64_ilp32)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-aarch64"
-            qemu_console=ttyAMA0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyAMA0}
             qemu_cpu="-cpu cortex-a72"
             qemu_options="$qemu_options -M virt"
             qemu_device=virtio-blk-device
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
             ;;
         ppc|ppcle|ppc64|ppc64le)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-ppc64"
-            qemu_console=hvc0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-hvc0}
             qemu_options="-M pseries"
             qemu_cpu=""
             grep -q PPC970MP /proc/cpuinfo && qemu_check_ppc970
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
             ;;
         riscv64)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-riscv64"
-            qemu_console=ttyS0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyS0}
             qemu_cpu="-cpu rv64"
             qemu_options="$qemu_options -M virt -bios"
             if test -f /usr/share/qemu/opensbi-riscv64-generic-fw_dynamic.bin; then
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
         s390|s390x)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-s390x"
             qemu_cpu="-cpu qemu"
-            qemu_console=hvc0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-hvc0}
             qemu_device=virtio-blk-ccw
             qemu_serial_device=virtio-serial-ccw
             qemu_rng_device=virtio-rng-ccw
@@ -95,19 +95,19 @@ vm_startup_qemu() {
         #
         hppa)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-hppa"
-            qemu_console=ttyAMA0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyAMA0}
             qemu_cpu=""
             qemu_options="$qemu_options -bios /usr/share/qemu/hppa-firmware.img"
             ;;
         m68k)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-m68k"
-            qemu_console=ttyAMA0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyAMA0}
             qemu_cpu="-cpu m68000"
             qemu_options="$qemu_options -M none"
             ;;
         riscv32)
             qemu_bin="/usr/bin/qemu-system-riscv32"
-            qemu_console=ttyS0
+            qemu_console=${qemu_console:-ttyS0}
             qemu_cpu="-cpu rv32"
             qemu_options="$qemu_options -M virt -bios /usr/share/qemu/opensbi-riscv32-virt-fw_jump.bin"
             qemu_device=virtio-blk-device
@@ -212,9 +212,8 @@ vm_kill_qemu() {
 
 vm_fixup_qemu() {
     vm_fixup_kvm
-
-    case $qemu_device in
-        virtio*)
+    case $BUILD_HOST_ARCH in
+        armv6l|armv7l|armv8l|aarch32|aarch64|aarch64_ilp32|ppc|ppcle|ppc64|ppc64le|riscv64|s390|s390x)
             VM_ROOTDEV=/dev/disk/by-id/virtio-0
             VM_SWAPDEV=/dev/disk/by-id/virtio-1
             ;;