diff --git a/lib/guestfs-internal.h b/lib/guestfs-internal.h
index 7c5bf4dd7..cfeb65ecb 100644
--- a/lib/guestfs-internal.h
+++ b/lib/guestfs-internal.h
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ void guestfs_int_init_libvirt_backend (void) __attribute__((constructor));
 #endif
 
 /* qemu.c */
-extern int guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (guestfs_h *g);
+extern int guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (guestfs_h *g, const char *qemu);
 extern char *guestfs_int_drive_source_qemu_param (guestfs_h *g, const struct drive_source *src);
 extern bool guestfs_int_discard_possible (guestfs_h *g, struct drive *drv);
 extern char *guestfs_int_qemu_escape_param (guestfs_h *g, const char *param);
diff --git a/lib/launch-direct.c b/lib/launch-direct.c
index d56127f98..b2021ee2c 100644
--- a/lib/launch-direct.c
+++ b/lib/launch-direct.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 
 /* Per-handle data. */
 struct backend_direct_data {
+  const char *qemu;             /* Qemu binary name. */
   pid_t pid;                    /* Qemu PID. */
   pid_t recoverypid;            /* Recovery process PID. */
 
@@ -499,20 +500,23 @@ launch_direct (guestfs_h *g, void *datav, const char *arg)
 
   guestfs_int_launch_send_progress (g, 3);
 
+  data->qemu = g->hv ? : get_default_hv_direct (g, data);
+  debug (g, "chosen qemu: %s", data->qemu);
+
   debug (g, "begin testing qemu features");
 
   /* If debugging, print the qemu version. */
   if (g->verbose) {
     CLEANUP_CMD_CLOSE struct command *cmd = guestfs_int_new_command (g);
 
-    guestfs_int_cmd_add_arg (cmd, g->hv);
+    guestfs_int_cmd_add_arg (cmd, data->qemu);
     guestfs_int_cmd_add_arg (cmd, "-version");
     guestfs_int_cmd_set_stdout_callback (cmd, debug_lines, NULL, 0);
     guestfs_int_cmd_run (cmd);
   }
 
   /* Work out if KVM is supported or if the user wants to force TCG. */
-  if ((has_kvm = guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (g)) == -1)
+  if ((has_kvm = guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (g, data->qemu)) == -1)
     goto cleanup0;
   debug (g, "qemu KVM: %s", has_kvm ? "enabled" : "disabled");
 
@@ -588,7 +592,7 @@ launch_direct (guestfs_h *g, void *datav, const char *arg)
     perrorf (g, "qemuopts");
     goto cleanup0;
   }
-  if (qemuopts_set_binary (qopts, g->hv) == -1) goto qemuopts_error;
+  if (qemuopts_set_binary (qopts, data->qemu) == -1) goto qemuopts_error;
 
   /* CVE-2011-4127 mitigation: Disable SCSI ioctls on virtio-blk
    * devices.
@@ -874,8 +878,8 @@ launch_direct (guestfs_h *g, void *datav, const char *arg)
     if (g->pgroup)
       setpgid (0, 0);
 
-    execve (g->hv, argv, env);        /* Run qemu. */
-    perror (g->hv);
+    execvpe (data->qemu, argv, env);        /* Run qemu. */
+    perror (data->qemu);
     _exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
 
@@ -1078,7 +1082,7 @@ shutdown_direct (guestfs_h *g, void *datav, int check_for_errors)
     if (guestfs_int_wait4 (g, data->pid, &status, &rusage, "qemu") == -1)
       ret = -1;
     else if (!WIFEXITED (status) || WEXITSTATUS (status) != 0) {
-      guestfs_int_external_command_failed (g, status, g->hv, NULL);
+      guestfs_int_external_command_failed (g, status, data->qemu, NULL);
       ret = -1;
     }
     else
diff --git a/lib/qemu.c b/lib/qemu.c
index 73fe38ff7..b0284b6d5 100644
--- a/lib/qemu.c
+++ b/lib/qemu.c
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ cleanup_json_object_put (void *ptr)
  * Run a generic QMP test on the QEMU binary.
  */
 static int
-generic_qmp_test (guestfs_h *g, const char *qmp_command, char **outp)
+generic_qmp_test (guestfs_h *g,
+                  const char *qemu, const char *qmp_command, char **outp)
 {
   CLEANUP_CMD_CLOSE struct command *cmd = guestfs_int_new_command (g);
   int r, fd;
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ generic_qmp_test (guestfs_h *g, const char *qmp_command, char **outp)
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, "'{ \"execute\": \"quit\" }' ");
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, " | ");
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, "QEMU_AUDIO_DRV=none ");
-  guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_quoted (cmd, g->hv);
+  guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_quoted (cmd, qemu);
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, " -display none");
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, " -machine none,accel=kvm:hvf:tcg");
   guestfs_int_cmd_add_string_unquoted (cmd, " -qmp stdio");
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ generic_qmp_test (guestfs_h *g, const char *qmp_command, char **outp)
 
  err:
   errors = guestfs_int_cmd_get_pipe_errors (cmd);
-  error (g, "%s: %s\nError output of qemu: %s", g->hv, errmsg, errors);
+  error (g, "%s: %s\nError output of qemu: %s", qemu, errmsg, errors);
   return -1;
 }
 
@@ -191,11 +192,11 @@ parse_has_kvm (guestfs_h *g, const char *json)
  * that command.
  */
 int
-guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (guestfs_h *g)
+guestfs_int_platform_has_kvm (guestfs_h *g, const char *qemu)
 {
   CLEANUP_FREE char *query_kvm = NULL;
 
-  if (generic_qmp_test (g, "query-kvm", &query_kvm) == -1)
+  if (generic_qmp_test (g, qemu, "query-kvm", &query_kvm) == -1)
     return -1;
 
   return parse_has_kvm (g, query_kvm);