diff --git a/repos/base/board/pc/qemu_args b/repos/base/board/pc/qemu_args
index 7232ed8d4b..7c03fe4ad9 100644
--- a/repos/base/board/pc/qemu_args
+++ b/repos/base/board/pc/qemu_args
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 -machine q35
+-cpu Nehalem-v2
 -net nic,model=e1000,netdev=net0 -netdev user,id=net0
diff --git a/tool/builddir/build.conf/run_x86 b/tool/builddir/build.conf/run_x86
index d07a7205ca..580de8ab81 100644
--- a/tool/builddir/build.conf/run_x86
+++ b/tool/builddir/build.conf/run_x86
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ QEMU_OPT += -no-kvm
 # use time-tested graphics backend
 QEMU_OPT += -display sdl
 
-# use machine model that supports nested virtualization
-QEMU_OPT(nova) += -cpu core2duo
-
 # add kernel-specific Qemu arguments
 QEMU_OPT += $(QEMU_OPT(${KERNEL}))
 
diff --git a/tool/run/power_on/qemu b/tool/run/power_on/qemu
index a2b835354b..687de98385 100644
--- a/tool/run/power_on/qemu
+++ b/tool/run/power_on/qemu
@@ -150,6 +150,13 @@ proc run_power_on { } {
 	if {[regexp -- {-netdev\s+user,id=(\w+)} $qemu_args dummy netdev]} {
 		regsub -all "\\-netdev\\s+user,id=$netdev\\S*" $board_qemu_args "" board_qemu_args }
 
+	##
+	# If -cpu is specified by qemu_args, remove -cpu from board_qemu_args to
+	# support overwriting it, e.g. used for virtualization scenarios
+	#
+	if {[regexp -- {-cpu\s+} $qemu_args dummy]} {
+		regsub -all {\-cpu\s+\S*} $board_qemu_args "" board_qemu_args }
+
 	# append custom board-specific qemu_args
 	append qemu_args " $board_qemu_args"