diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index 08d0a358e61..622fba0686f 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ rec {
 
     echo "loading kernel modules..."
     for i in $(cat ${modulesClosure}/insmod-list); do
-      insmod $i
+      insmod $i || echo "warning: unable to load $i"
     done
 
     mount -t devtmpfs devtmpfs /dev