diff --git a/lxd/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go b/lxd/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
index 5c768e3a729f..6c9a8bb4ca47 100644
--- a/lxd/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
+++ b/lxd/instance/drivers/driver_qemu.go
@@ -7965,7 +7965,7 @@ func (d *qemu) checkFeatures(hostArch int, qemuPath string) (map[string]any, err
 	}
 
 	if d.architectureSupportsUEFI(hostArch) {
-		qemuArgs = append(qemuArgs, "-bios", filepath.Join(d.ovmfPath(), "OVMF_CODE.fd"))
+		qemuArgs = append(qemuArgs, "-drive", fmt.Sprintf("if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=%s", filepath.Join(d.ovmfPath(), "OVMF_CODE.fd")))
 	}
 
 	var stderr bytes.Buffer