diff --git a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
index a866b513f0f..80bc71bbb8c 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
@@ -291,6 +291,11 @@ in
         if test -z "$FSTYPE"; then
             mke2fs -t ext4 /dev/vda
         fi
+
+        # Set the system time from the hardware clock to work around a
+        # bug in qemu-kvm > 1.5.2 (where the VM clock is initialised
+        # to the *boot time* of the host).
+        hwclock -s
       '';
 
     boot.initrd.postMountCommands =