diff --git a/pkg/pillar/hypervisor/kvm.go b/pkg/pillar/hypervisor/kvm.go
index 0726e579f9a..619a0bdc1b6 100644
--- a/pkg/pillar/hypervisor/kvm.go
+++ b/pkg/pillar/hypervisor/kvm.go
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ const qemuConfTemplate = `# This file is automatically generated by domainmgr
   driver = "intel-iommu"
   caching-mode = "on"
 {{ end }}
+[realtime]
+  mlock = "off"
 
 [chardev "charmonitor"]
   backend = "socket"