diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/windows/controller/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/windows/controller/default.nix
index 49d6815a3dc..22451e0e394 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/windows/controller/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/windows/controller/default.nix
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ let
     QEMU_VDE_SOCKET="$(pwd)/vde.ctl"
     MONITOR_SOCKET="$(pwd)/monitor"
     ${vde2}/bin/vde_switch -s "$QEMU_VDE_SOCKET" &
+    echo 'alive?' | ${socat}/bin/socat - \
+      UNIX-CONNECT:$QEMU_VDE_SOCKET/ctl,retry=20
   '';
 
   vmExec = if installMode then ''