diff --git a/builder/qemu/builder.go b/builder/qemu/builder.go
index 7f404a566..301884ed0 100644
--- a/builder/qemu/builder.go
+++ b/builder/qemu/builder.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ type config struct {
 	ISOChecksum     string     `mapstructure:"iso_checksum"`
 	ISOChecksumType string     `mapstructure:"iso_checksum_type"`
 	ISOUrls         []string   `mapstructure:"iso_urls"`
+	MachineType     string     `mapstructure:"machine_type"`
 	NetDevice       string     `mapstructure:"net_device"`
 	OutputDir       string     `mapstructure:"output_directory"`
 	QemuArgs        [][]string `mapstructure:"qemuargs"`
@@ -127,6 +128,10 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 		b.config.HTTPPortMax = 9000
 	}
 
+	if b.config.MachineType == "" {
+		b.config.MachineType = "pc-1.0"
+	}
+
 	if b.config.OutputDir == "" {
 		b.config.OutputDir = fmt.Sprintf("output-%s", b.config.PackerBuildName)
 	}
@@ -205,6 +210,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
 		"shutdown_timeout":  &b.config.RawShutdownTimeout,
 		"ssh_wait_timeout":  &b.config.RawSSHWaitTimeout,
 		"accelerator":       &b.config.Accelerator,
+		"machine_type":      &b.config.MachineType,
 		"net_device":        &b.config.NetDevice,
 		"disk_interface":    &b.config.DiskInterface,
 	}
diff --git a/builder/qemu/step_run.go b/builder/qemu/step_run.go
index 858c8424c..649ba63ee 100644
--- a/builder/qemu/step_run.go
+++ b/builder/qemu/step_run.go
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func getCommandArgs(bootDrive string, state multistep.StateBag) ([]string, error
 
 	defaultArgs := make(map[string]string)
 	defaultArgs["-name"] = vmName
-	defaultArgs["-machine"] = fmt.Sprintf("type=pc-1.0,accel=%s", config.Accelerator)
+	defaultArgs["-machine"] = fmt.Sprintf("type=%s,accel=%s", config.MachineType, config.Accelerator)
 	defaultArgs["-display"] = guiArgument
 	defaultArgs["-netdev"] = "user,id=user.0"
 	defaultArgs["-device"] = fmt.Sprintf("%s,netdev=user.0", config.NetDevice)