diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index aaccf62b6e799c7f746ff8e55a0c5300a0816bae..9b69ad00e8059b03f275af09bfe8728375fd178c 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -4334,8 +4334,7 @@ qemuBuildCommandLine(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (qemuCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE)) {
         int bootCD = 0, bootFloppy = 0, bootDisk = 0;
 
-        if ((qemuCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE_BOOT) || emitBootindex) &&
-            !def->os.kernel) {
+        if ((qemuCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE_BOOT) || emitBootindex)) {
             /* bootDevs will get translated into either bootindex=N or boot=on
              * depending on what qemu supports */
             for (i = 0 ; i < def->os.nBootDevs ; i++) {