diff --git a/src/runtime/Makefile b/src/runtime/Makefile
index 819833e03a..5442f026a1 100644
--- a/src/runtime/Makefile
+++ b/src/runtime/Makefile
@@ -398,6 +398,7 @@ USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE_ACRN
 USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE_CLH
 USER_VARS += FIRMWAREPATH
 USER_VARS += MACHINEACCELERATORS
+USER_VARS += CPUFEATURES
 USER_VARS += DEFMACHINETYPE_CLH
 USER_VARS += KERNELPARAMS
 USER_VARS += LIBEXECDIR
@@ -606,6 +607,7 @@ $(GENERATED_FILES): %: %.in $(MAKEFILE_LIST) VERSION .git-commit
 		-e "s|@INITRDPATH@|$(INITRDPATH)|g" \
 		-e "s|@FIRMWAREPATH@|$(FIRMWAREPATH)|g" \
 		-e "s|@MACHINEACCELERATORS@|$(MACHINEACCELERATORS)|g" \
+		-e "s|@CPUFEATURES@|$(CPUFEATURES)|g" \
 		-e "s|@FIRMWAREPATH_CLH@|$(FIRMWAREPATH_CLH)|g" \
 		-e "s|@DEFMACHINETYPE_CLH@|$(DEFMACHINETYPE_CLH)|g" \
 		-e "s|@KERNELPARAMS@|$(KERNELPARAMS)|g" \
diff --git a/src/runtime/arch/amd64-options.mk b/src/runtime/arch/amd64-options.mk
index 7bfc5ff97f..b04acb8f73 100644
--- a/src/runtime/arch/amd64-options.mk
+++ b/src/runtime/arch/amd64-options.mk
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 MACHINETYPE := pc
 KERNELPARAMS :=
 MACHINEACCELERATORS :=
+CPUFEATURES := pmu=off
 
 QEMUCMD := qemu-system-x86_64
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/arch/arm64-options.mk b/src/runtime/arch/arm64-options.mk
index f8c62c3711..02227d2e85 100644
--- a/src/runtime/arch/arm64-options.mk
+++ b/src/runtime/arch/arm64-options.mk
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 MACHINETYPE := virt
 KERNELPARAMS :=
 MACHINEACCELERATORS :=
+CPUFEATURES := pmu=off
 
 QEMUCMD := qemu-system-aarch64
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/arch/ppc64le-options.mk b/src/runtime/arch/ppc64le-options.mk
index 9ce0a253cb..2e1cffc812 100644
--- a/src/runtime/arch/ppc64le-options.mk
+++ b/src/runtime/arch/ppc64le-options.mk
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@
 MACHINETYPE := pseries
 KERNELPARAMS :=
 MACHINEACCELERATORS := "cap-cfpc=broken,cap-sbbc=broken,cap-ibs=broken,cap-large-decr=off,cap-ccf-assist=off"
+CPUFEATURES := pmu=off
 KERNELTYPE := uncompressed #This architecture must use an uncompressed kernel.
 QEMUCMD := qemu-system-ppc64
diff --git a/src/runtime/arch/s390x-options.mk b/src/runtime/arch/s390x-options.mk
index 3256e46288..f54c064572 100644
--- a/src/runtime/arch/s390x-options.mk
+++ b/src/runtime/arch/s390x-options.mk
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@
 MACHINETYPE := s390-ccw-virtio
 KERNELPARAMS :=
 MACHINEACCELERATORS :=
+CPUFEATURES :=
 
 QEMUCMD := qemu-system-s390x