diff --git a/nixos/tests/systemd-machinectl.nix b/nixos/tests/systemd-machinectl.nix
index 8238bcea3f3a..19e40b882c4c 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/systemd-machinectl.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/systemd-machinectl.nix
@@ -1,33 +1,38 @@
-{ pkgs, ... }:
+{ pkgs, lib, ... }:
 let
+  evalConfig =
+    module:
+    (import ../lib/eval-config.nix {
+      system = null;
+      modules = [ module ];
+    }).config.system.build.toplevel;
 
-  container =
+  common =
     { config, ... }:
     {
-      # We re-use the NixOS container option ...
-      boot.isNspawnContainer = true;
-      # ... and revert unwanted defaults
-      networking.useHostResolvConf = false;
-
-      # use networkd to obtain systemd network setup
-      networking.useNetworkd = true;
-      networking.useDHCP = false;
-
-      # systemd-nspawn expects /sbin/init
-      boot.loader.initScript.enable = true;
-
       imports = [ ../modules/profiles/minimal.nix ];
 
       system.stateVersion = config.system.nixos.release;
 
       nixpkgs.pkgs = pkgs;
+
+      # use networkd to obtain systemd network setup
+      networking.useNetworkd = true;
     };
 
-  containerSystem =
-    (import ../lib/eval-config.nix {
-      system = null;
-      modules = [ container ];
-    }).config.system.build.toplevel;
+  container = {
+    imports = [ common ];
+
+    # We re-use the NixOS container option ...
+    boot.isNspawnContainer = true;
+    # ... and revert unwanted defaults
+    networking.useHostResolvConf = false;
+
+    # systemd-nspawn expects /sbin/init
+    boot.loader.initScript.enable = true;
+  };
+
+  containerSystem = evalConfig container;
 
   containerName = "container";
   containerRoot = "/var/lib/machines/${containerName}";
@@ -51,16 +56,52 @@ let
       }
     ];
   };
+
+  vm = {
+    imports = [
+      common
+      ../modules/profiles/qemu-guest.nix
+    ];
+    # improvement: move following configuration to qemu-guest.nix
+    boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [
+      "virtiofs"
+    ];
+
+    boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;
+    # root is defined by systemd-vmspawn
+    boot.initrd.systemd.root = null;
+
+    boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
+
+    services.openssh.enable = true;
+  };
+  vmSystem = evalConfig vm;
+
+  vmShared = {
+    imports = [ vm ];
+
+    fileSystems."/nix/store" = {
+      device = "mnt0";
+      fsType = "virtiofs";
+      neededForBoot = true;
+    };
+  };
+  vmSharedSystem = evalConfig vmShared;
 in
 {
   name = "systemd-machinectl";
+  meta.maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ ck3d ];
 
   nodes.machine =
-    { lib, ... }:
+    {
+      config,
+      lib,
+      pkgs,
+      ...
+    }:
     {
       # use networkd to obtain systemd network setup
       networking.useNetworkd = true;
-      networking.useDHCP = false;
 
       # do not try to access cache.nixos.org
       nix.settings.substituters = lib.mkForce [ ];
@@ -71,8 +112,12 @@ in
       virtualisation.additionalPaths = [
         containerSystem
         containerTarball
+        vmSystem
+        vmSharedSystem
       ];
 
+      virtualisation.diskSize = 2048;
+
       systemd.tmpfiles.rules = [
         "d /var/lib/machines/shared-decl 0755 root root - -"
       ];
@@ -102,22 +147,62 @@ in
         overrideStrategy = "asDropin";
       };
 
-      # open DHCP for container
       networking.firewall.extraCommands = ''
+        # open DHCP for nspawn interfaces
         ${pkgs.iptables}/bin/iptables -A nixos-fw -i ve-+ -p udp -m udp --dport 67 -j nixos-fw-accept
+        # open DHCP for vmspawn interfaces
+        ${pkgs.iptables}/bin/iptables -A nixos-fw -i vt-+ -p udp -m udp --dport 67 -j nixos-fw-accept
       '';
+
+      environment.systemPackages =
+        let
+          # improvement: following wrapper should be moved to pkgs
+          vmspawn-wrapped =
+            pkgs.runCommand "systemd-vmspawn-wrapped" { nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgs.makeWrapper ]; }
+              ''
+                makeWrapper ${config.systemd.package}/bin/systemd-vmspawn $out/bin/systemd-vmspawn-wrapped \
+                  --prefix PATH : ${
+                    lib.makeBinPath [
+                      pkgs.qemu
+                      pkgs.virtiofsd
+                      pkgs.openssh # ssh-keygen
+                    ]
+                  } \
+                  --prefix XDG_CONFIG_HOME : ${pkgs.qemu}/share
+              '';
+        in
+        [ vmspawn-wrapped ];
     };
 
   testScript = ''
     start_all()
     machine.wait_for_unit("default.target");
+    # Workaround for nixos-install
+    machine.succeed("chmod o+rx /var/lib/machines");
+
+    with subtest("vm-shared"):
+      machine.succeed("mkdir -p /var/lib/machines/vm-shared");
+      # Start vm-shared
+      machine.succeed("systemd-run systemd-vmspawn-wrapped --directory=/var/lib/machines/vm-shared --bind-ro=/nix/store --linux=${vmSharedSystem}/kernel --initrd=${vmSharedSystem}/initrd ${vmSharedSystem}/kernel-params init=${vmSharedSystem}/init")
+      machine.wait_until_succeeds("machinectl status vm-shared");
+      machine.wait_until_succeeds("eval $(machinectl show vm-shared --property=SSHPrivateKeyPath --property=SSHAddress) && ssh -i $SSHPrivateKeyPath $SSHAddress true")
+      machine.succeed("machinectl stop vm-shared");
+
+    with subtest("vm"):
+      machine.succeed("mkdir -p /var/lib/machines/vm");
+      # Install vm
+      machine.succeed("nixos-install --root /var/lib/machines/vm --system ${vmSystem} --no-channel-copy --no-root-passwd");
+      # Start vm
+      machine.succeed("systemd-run systemd-vmspawn-wrapped --directory=/var/lib/machines/vm --linux=${vmSystem}/kernel --initrd=${vmSystem}/initrd ${vmSystem}/kernel-params init=${vmSystem}/init")
+      machine.wait_until_succeeds("machinectl status vm");
+      machine.wait_until_succeeds("eval $(machinectl show vm --property=SSHPrivateKeyPath --property=SSHAddress) && ssh -i $SSHPrivateKeyPath $SSHAddress true")
+      machine.succeed("machinectl stop vm");
 
     # Test machinectl start stop of shared-decl
     machine.succeed("machinectl start shared-decl");
     machine.wait_until_succeeds("systemctl -M shared-decl is-active default.target");
     machine.succeed("machinectl stop shared-decl");
 
-    # create containers root
     machine.succeed("mkdir -p ${containerRoot}");
 
     # start container with shared nix store by using same arguments as for systemd-nspawn@.service
@@ -128,8 +213,6 @@ in
     machine.succeed("machinectl stop ${containerName}");
 
     # Install container
-    # Workaround for nixos-install
-    machine.succeed("chmod o+rx /var/lib/machines");
     machine.succeed("nixos-install --root ${containerRoot} --system ${containerSystem} --no-channel-copy --no-root-passwd");
 
     # Allow systemd-nspawn to apply user namespace on immutable files
@@ -183,6 +266,7 @@ in
 
     # Test auto-start
     machine.succeed("machinectl show ${containerName}")
+    machine.wait_until_succeeds("systemctl -M ${containerName} is-active default.target");
 
     # Test machinectl stop
     machine.succeed("machinectl stop ${containerName}");