diff --git a/modules/system/boot/stage-1.nix b/modules/system/boot/stage-1.nix
index cdfbdbbf432..e4f935d7253 100644
--- a/modules/system/boot/stage-1.nix
+++ b/modules/system/boot/stage-1.nix
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ let
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/basename $out/bin
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/mkdir $out/bin
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/mknod $out/bin
+      cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/chmod $out/bin
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/cat $out/bin
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/chroot $out/bin
       cp -v ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/sleep $out/bin
diff --git a/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix b/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
index 0dce6936b81..8881cc5304d 100644
--- a/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
+++ b/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ in
 
   boot.initrd.postMountCommands =
     ''
+      # Fix the permissions on /tmp.
+      chmod 1777 $targetRoot/tmp
+      
       mkdir -p $targetRoot/boot
       mount -o remount,ro $targetRoot/nix/store
       ${optionalString cfg.writableStore ''