diff --git a/lib/activate/activate.c b/lib/activate/activate.c
index 8f4462a86..4facb7c03 100644
--- a/lib/activate/activate.c
+++ b/lib/activate/activate.c
@@ -585,6 +585,12 @@ int module_present(struct cmd_context *cmd, const char *target_name)
 	}
 
 #ifdef MODPROBE_CMD
+	if (strcmp(target_name, MODULE_NAME_VDO) == 0) {
+		argv[1] = target_name;		/* ATM kvdo is without dm- prefix */
+		if ((ret = exec_cmd(cmd, argv, NULL, 0)))
+			return ret;
+	}
+
 	if (dm_snprintf(module, sizeof(module), "dm-%s", target_name) < 0) {
 		log_error("module_present module name too long: %s",
 			  target_name);
diff --git a/lib/activate/activate.h b/lib/activate/activate.h
index 2f0b0a0e9..5d77f401d 100644
--- a/lib/activate/activate.h
+++ b/lib/activate/activate.h
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ void fs_unlock(void);
 #define MODULE_NAME_MIRROR TARGET_NAME_MIRROR
 #define MODULE_NAME_SNAPSHOT TARGET_NAME_SNAPSHOT
 #define MODULE_NAME_RAID TARGET_NAME_RAID
+#define MODULE_NAME_VDO "kvdo"          /* does NOT use dm- prefix */
 #define MODULE_NAME_ZERO TARGET_NAME_ZERO
 
 #endif