diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 3226874d5..60ddcb702 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@
               # with FSTOOLS_IN_PODMAN=1 these are not needed
               # without it, the installer fails to link FUSE somehow
               #fuse
-              qemu_kvm
+              qemu_kvm # for host arch
+              qemu
             ];
 
             LD_LIBRARY_PATH = pkgs.lib.makeLibraryPath buildInputs;
diff --git a/mk/qemu.mk b/mk/qemu.mk
index e2e2d819e..af4ec9800 100644
--- a/mk/qemu.mk
+++ b/mk/qemu.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ QEMUFLAGS?=-d guest_errors -name "Redox OS $(ARCH)"
 netboot?=no
 redoxer?=no
 VGA_SUPPORTED=no
+# for qemu-relative firmware search
+QEMU_PATH?=$(shell command -v $(QEMU))
+QEMU_BASE_DIR?=$(shell if [ $(QEMU_PATH) ]; then realpath $$(dirname $(QEMU_PATH))/..; fi)
 
 ifeq ($(ARCH),i586)
 	audio?=ac97
@@ -39,8 +42,7 @@ else ifeq ($(ARCH),x86_64)
 		ifeq ($(FIRMWARE),)
 			PFLASH0=$(firstword \
 				$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu/edk2-x86_64-code.fd) \
-				$(wildcard /run/libvirt/nix-ovmf/edk2-x86_64-code.fd) \
-				$(wildcard /opt/homebrew/opt/qemu/share/qemu/edk2s-x86_64-code.fd) \
+				$(wildcard $(QEMU_BASE_DIR)/share/qemu/edk2-x86_64-code.fd) \
 			)
 		endif
 	endif
@@ -78,9 +80,9 @@ else ifeq ($(ARCH),aarch64)
 			ifeq ($(FIRMWARE),)
 				PFLASH0=$(firstword \
 					$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd) \
-					$(wildcard /run/libvirt/nix-ovmf/edk2-aarch64-code.fd) \
-					$(wildcard /opt/homebrew/opt/qemu/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd) \
+					$(wildcard $(QEMU_BASE_DIR)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd) \
 				)
+				PFLASH0_NEEDED=yes
 			endif
 		else
 			FIRMWARE=$(BUILD)/qemu_uboot.rom
@@ -112,16 +114,16 @@ else ifeq ($(ARCH),riscv64gc)
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu-efi-riscv64/RISCV_VIRT_CODE.fd) \
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/edk2/riscv/RISCV_VIRT_CODE.fd) \
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-code.fd) \
-		$(wildcard /run/libvirt/nix-ovmf/edk2-riscv-code.fd) \
-		$(wildcard /opt/homebrew/opt/qemu/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-code.fd) \
+		$(wildcard $(QEMU_BASE_DIR)/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-code.fd) \
 	)
+	PFLASH0_NEEDED=yes
 	PFLASH1=$(firstword \
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu-efi-riscv64/RISCV_VIRT_VARS.fd) \
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/edk2/riscv/RISCV_VIRT_VARS.fd) \
 		$(wildcard /usr/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-vars.fd) \
-		$(wildcard /run/libvirt/nix-ovmf/edk2-riscv-vars.fd) \
-		$(wildcard /opt/homebrew/opt/qemu/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-vars.fd) \
+		$(wildcard $(QEMU_BASE_DIR)/share/qemu/edk2-riscv-vars.fd) \
 	)
+	PFLASH1_NEEDED=yes
 	ifneq ($(usb),no)
 		QEMUFLAGS+=-device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet
 	endif
@@ -358,8 +360,13 @@ qemu-deps: $(BUILD)/fw_vars.bin
 .PRECIOUS: $(BUILD)/fw_vars.bin
 $(BUILD)/fw_vars.bin: $(PFLASH1)
 	cp "$<" "$@"
+	chmod +w "$@"
 endif
 
+qemu-deps:
+	$(if $(PFLASH0_NEEDED),$(if $(PFLASH0),,$(error UEFI firmware needed but not found)),)
+	$(if $(PFLASH1_NEEDED),$(if $(PFLASH1),,$(error UEFI variables needed but not found)),)
+
 $(EXTRA_DISK):
 	truncate -s 1g $@