diff --git a/src/libguestfish.sh b/src/libguestfish.sh
index 15fa66658f7cfdbdff0baeb3ce13297ff0888051..79fe2cdaee253ed1989d8b8f30a790577fc10090 100755
--- a/src/libguestfish.sh
+++ b/src/libguestfish.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # We don't want to use libvirt for this, it inhibits debugging
 # shellcheck disable=SC2031
 export LIBGUESTFS_BACKEND=direct
+if env|grep -q "^COSA_NO_KVM=";then
+    export LIBGUESTFS_BACKEND_SETTINGS=force_tcg
+fi
 
 arch=$(uname -m)