diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix b/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
index c4d6d69fae14..62937d50139c 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-multi-disk-zfs-image.nix
@@ -123,10 +123,10 @@ let
   };
 
   modulesTree = pkgs.aggregateModules (
-    with config.boot.kernelPackages;
+    with config.boot;
     [
-      kernel
-      zfs
+      kernelPackages.kernel
+      kernelPackages.${pkgs.zfs.kernelModuleAttribute}
     ]
   );
 
@@ -254,11 +254,12 @@ let
   image =
     (pkgs.vmTools.override {
       rootModules = [
-        "zfs"
         "9p"
         "9pnet_virtio"
-        "virtio_pci"
         "virtio_blk"
+        "virtio_pci"
+        "virtiofs"
+        "zfs"
       ];
       kernel = modulesTree;
     }).runInLinuxVM
diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix b/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
index 1641a7f799e2..b41a5d37b0aa 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-single-disk-zfs-image.nix
@@ -111,10 +111,10 @@ let
   };
 
   modulesTree = pkgs.aggregateModules (
-    with config.boot.kernelPackages;
+    with config.boot;
     [
-      kernel
-      zfs
+      kernelPackages.kernel
+      kernelPackages.${pkgs.zfs.kernelModuleAttribute}
     ]
   );
 
@@ -242,11 +242,12 @@ let
   image =
     (pkgs.vmTools.override {
       rootModules = [
-        "zfs"
         "9p"
         "9pnet_virtio"
-        "virtio_pci"
         "virtio_blk"
+        "virtio_pci"
+        "virtiofs"
+        "zfs"
       ];
       kernel = modulesTree;
     }).runInLinuxVM
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index 25c89af32a4c..65687b72461f 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -237,10 +237,9 @@ rec {
   vmRunCommand = qemuCommand: writeText "vm-run" ''
     ${coreutils}/bin/mkdir xchg
     export > xchg/saved-env
-    PATH=${coreutils}/bin
 
     if [ -f "''${NIX_ATTRS_SH_FILE-}" ]; then
-      cp $NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE $NIX_ATTRS_SH_FILE xchg
+      ${coreutils}/bin/cp $NIX_ATTRS_JSON_FILE $NIX_ATTRS_SH_FILE xchg
       source "$NIX_ATTRS_SH_FILE"
     fi
     source $stdenv/setup
@@ -258,7 +257,7 @@ rec {
     # Write the command to start the VM to a file so that the user can
     # debug inside the VM if the build fails (when Nix is called with
     # the -K option to preserve the temporary build directory).
-    cat > ./run-vm <<EOF
+    ${coreutils}/bin/cat > ./run-vm <<EOF
     #! ${bash}/bin/sh
     ''${diskImage:+diskImage=$diskImage}
     # GitHub Actions runners seems to not allow installing seccomp filter: https://github.com/rcambrj/nix-pi-loader/issues/1#issuecomment-2605497516
@@ -268,7 +267,7 @@ rec {
     ${qemuCommand}
     EOF
 
-    chmod +x ./run-vm
+    ${coreutils}/bin/chmod +x ./run-vm
     source ./run-vm
 
     if ! test -e xchg/in-vm-exit; then
@@ -276,7 +275,7 @@ rec {
       exit 1
     fi
 
-    exitCode="$(cat xchg/in-vm-exit)"
+    exitCode="$(${coreutils}/bin/cat xchg/in-vm-exit)"
     if [ "$exitCode" != "0" ]; then
       exit "$exitCode"
     fi