diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index 2821fc0a099..b0911fd99c3 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { pkgs
-, kernel ? pkgs.linux_3_9
+, kernel ? pkgs.linux
 , img ? "bzImage"
 , rootModules ?
     [ "virtio_pci" "virtio_blk" "virtio_balloon" "ext4" "unix" "9p" "9pnet_virtio" ]
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@ rec {
 
     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=fscache
+    mount -t 9p store /fs/nix/store -o trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,msize=262144,cache=loose
 
     mkdir -p /fs/tmp
     mount -t tmpfs -o "mode=755" none /fs/tmp
 
     echo "mounting host's temporary directory..."
     mkdir -p /fs/tmp/xchg
-    mount -t 9p xchg /fs/tmp/xchg -o trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,msize=262144,cache=fscache
+    mount -t 9p xchg /fs/tmp/xchg -o trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,msize=262144,cache=loose
 
     mkdir -p /fs/proc
     mount -t proc none /fs/proc