diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index fc41e8ec52e..838548f94bf 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ rec {
     mkdir -p /fs/dev
     mount -o bind /dev /fs/dev
 
+    mkdir -p /fs/dev /fs/dev/shm
+    mount -t tmpfs -o "mode=1777" none /fs/dev/shm
+
     echo "mounting Nix store..."
     mkdir -p /fs/nix/store
     mount -t 9p store /fs/nix/store -o trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,msize=262144,cache=loose