diff --git a/modules/virtualisation/virtualbox-image.nix b/modules/virtualisation/virtualbox-image.nix
index c3fbf344bfb..9c488b6b039 100644
--- a/modules/virtualisation/virtualbox-image.nix
+++ b/modules/virtualisation/virtualbox-image.nix
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ with pkgs.lib;
           mknod /dev/vda1 b $MAJOR $MINOR
 
           # Create an empty filesystem and mount it.
-          ${pkgs.e2fsprogs}/sbin/mkfs.ext3 -L nixos /dev/vda1
+          ${pkgs.e2fsprogs}/sbin/mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/vda1
           ${pkgs.e2fsprogs}/sbin/tune2fs -c 0 -i 0 /dev/vda1
           mkdir /mnt
           mount /dev/vda1 /mnt