diff --git a/nixos/modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix b/nixos/modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix
index c8e6fd4aa768..0a92b7ace507 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix
@@ -5,5 +5,13 @@
 
 {
   boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "virtio_net" "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" ];
-  boot.kernelModules = [ "virtio_balloon" "virtio_console" ];
+  boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "virtio_balloon" "virtio_console" ];
+
+  boot.initrd.postDeviceCommands =
+    ''
+      # Set the system time from the hardware clock to work around a
+      # bug in qemu-kvm > 1.5.2 (where the VM clock is initialised
+      # to the *boot time* of the host).
+      hwclock -s
+    '';
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
index 80bc71bbb8c6..a866b513f0f2 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
@@ -291,11 +291,6 @@ in
         if test -z "$FSTYPE"; then
             mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/vda
         fi
-
-        # Set the system time from the hardware clock to work around a
-        # bug in qemu-kvm > 1.5.2 (where the VM clock is initialised
-        # to the *boot time* of the host).
-        hwclock -s
       '';
 
     boot.initrd.postMountCommands =
diff --git a/nixos/tests/installer.nix b/nixos/tests/installer.nix
index b32012ea0347..7929ef872b5c 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/installer.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/installer.nix
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ let
 
       { imports =
           [ ./hardware-configuration.nix
-            "''${modulesPath}/testing/test-instrumentation.nix"
+            <nixpkgs/nixos/modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix>
+            <nixpkgs/nixos/modules/testing/test-instrumentation.nix>
           ];
 
         boot.loader.grub.version = ${toString grubVersion};
@@ -48,7 +49,6 @@ let
         ''}
         boot.loader.grub.device = "${grubDevice}";
         boot.loader.grub.extraConfig = "serial; terminal_output.serial";
-        boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "virtio_console" ];
 
         environment.systemPackages = [ ${optionalString testChannel "pkgs.rlwrap"} ];
       }