diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
index 8da8d12cb5f9..83be43ee75ad 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/qemu/default.nix
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     + lib.optionalString xenSupport "-xen"
     + lib.optionalString hostCpuOnly "-host-cpu-only"
     + lib.optionalString nixosTestRunner "-for-vm-tests";
-  version = "8.0.4";
+  version = "8.1.0";
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://download.qemu.org/qemu-${finalAttrs.version}.tar.xz";
-    hash = "sha256-gcgX3aOK+Vi+W+8abPVbZYuy0/uHwealcd5reyxEUWw=";
+    hash = "sha256-cQwQEZjjNNR2Lu9l9km8Q/qKXddTA1VLis/sPrJfDlU=";
   };
 
   depsBuildBuild = [ buildPackages.stdenv.cc ]
@@ -153,9 +153,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     "--enable-tools"
     "--localstatedir=/var"
     "--sysconfdir=/etc"
-    # Always use our Meson, not the bundled version, which doesn't
-    # have our patches and will be subtly broken because of that.
-    "--meson=meson"
     "--cross-prefix=${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}"
     (lib.enableFeature guestAgentSupport "guest-agent")
   ] ++ lib.optional numaSupport "--enable-numa"
@@ -219,6 +216,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
 
     # point tests towards correct binaries
     substituteInPlace ../tests/unit/test-qga.c \
+      --replace '/bin/bash' "$(type -P bash)" \
       --replace '/bin/echo' "$(type -P echo)"
     substituteInPlace ../tests/unit/test-io-channel-command.c \
       --replace '/bin/socat' "$(type -P socat)"