diff --git a/src/vmm_mad/remotes/kvm/kvmrc b/src/vmm_mad/remotes/kvm/kvmrc
index ecb4c7e22b..15b72df854 100644
--- a/src/vmm_mad/remotes/kvm/kvmrc
+++ b/src/vmm_mad/remotes/kvm/kvmrc
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@ export LANG=C
 
 export LIBVIRT_URI=qemu:///system
 
-export QEMU_PROTOCOL=qemu
+export QEMU_PROTOCOL=qemu+ssh