diff --git a/tests/functional/vfio/gha-run.sh b/tests/functional/vfio/gha-run.sh
index cfd8082249..97c72f80b7 100755
--- a/tests/functional/vfio/gha-run.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/vfio/gha-run.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,28 @@ source "${vfio_dir}/../../common.bash"
 
 function install_dependencies() {
 	info "Installing the dependencies needed for running the vfio tests"
+	(
+	source /etc/os-release || source /usr/lib/os-release
+	case "${ID}" in
+		ubuntu)
+			# cloud image dependencies
+			deps=(xorriso curl qemu-utils openssh-client)
+
+			sudo apt-get update
+			sudo apt-get install -y ${deps[@]} qemu-system-x86
+			;;
+		fedora)
+			# cloud image dependencies
+			deps=(xorriso curl qemu-img openssh)
+
+			sudo dnf install -y ${deps[@]} qemu-system-x86-core
+			;;
+
+		"*")
+			die "Unsupported distro: ${ID}"
+			;;
+	esac
+	)
 }
 
 function run() {
diff --git a/tests/functional/vfio/vfio_fedora_vm_wrapper.sh b/tests/functional/vfio/vfio_fedora_vm_wrapper.sh
index bdebbeb800..e3fbf855e5 100755
--- a/tests/functional/vfio/vfio_fedora_vm_wrapper.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/vfio/vfio_fedora_vm_wrapper.sh
@@ -244,30 +244,6 @@ run_vm() {
 	   -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=net1,disable-legacy=on,disable-modern="${disable_modern}",iommu_platform=on,ats=on
 }
 
-install_dependencies() {
-	case "${ID}" in
-		ubuntu)
-			# cloud image dependencies
-			deps=(xorriso curl qemu-utils openssh-client)
-
-			sudo apt-get update
-			sudo apt-get install -y ${deps[@]}
-			sudo apt-get install --reinstall -y qemu-system-x86
-			;;
-		fedora)
-			# cloud image dependencies
-			deps=(xorriso curl qemu-img openssh)
-
-			sudo dnf install -y ${deps[@]} qemu-system-x86-core
-			sudo dnf reinstall -y qemu-system-x86-core
-			;;
-
-		"*")
-			die "Unsupported distro: ${ID}"
-			;;
-	esac
-}
-
 ssh_vm() {
 	cmd=$@
 	ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -i "${ssh_key_file}" -p "${vm_port}" "${USER}@${vm_ip}" "${cmd}"
@@ -298,8 +274,6 @@ main() {
 
 	mkdir -p "${data_dir}"
 
-	install_dependencies
-
 	create_ssh_key
 
 	create_config_iso "${config_iso_file}"