diff --git a/src/runtime-rs/Makefile b/src/runtime-rs/Makefile
index 121a89a23f..b4e9b40fb5 100644
--- a/src/runtime-rs/Makefile
+++ b/src/runtime-rs/Makefile
@@ -389,6 +389,10 @@ else ifeq ($(ARCH), aarch64)
     # so we use virtio-blk-pci instead.
     VMROOTFSDRIVER_QEMU := virtio-blk-pci
     DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU := virtio-scsi
+    # runtime-rs lacks ARM CPU hotplug support (pflash/UEFI, SMP topology,
+    # QMP vCPU add for virt machine type). Use static sandbox resource
+    # management to size the VM upfront instead.
+    DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_QEMU := true
 else
     VMROOTFSDRIVER_QEMU := virtio-pmem
     DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU := virtio-scsi
diff --git a/src/runtime/Makefile b/src/runtime/Makefile
index 4eacb1e287..f4d9ccf03a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/Makefile
+++ b/src/runtime/Makefile
@@ -292,6 +292,10 @@ DEFVFIOMODE := guest-kernel
 DEFSANDBOXCGROUPONLY ?= false
 
 DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT ?= false
+DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_QEMU ?= false
+ifeq ($(ARCH),arm64)
+    DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_QEMU = true
+endif
 DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_TEE = true
 DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_NV = true
 
@@ -791,6 +795,7 @@ USER_VARS += DEFENTROPYSOURCE
 USER_VARS += DEFVALIDENTROPYSOURCES
 USER_VARS += DEFSANDBOXCGROUPONLY
 USER_VARS += DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT
+USER_VARS += DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_QEMU
 USER_VARS += DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_CLH
 USER_VARS += DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_FC
 USER_VARS += DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_STRATOVIRT
diff --git a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
index 7f05088170..811884a088 100644
--- a/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
+++ b/src/runtime/config/configuration-qemu.toml.in
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ sandbox_cgroup_only = @DEFSANDBOXCGROUPONLY@
 # - When running with pods, sandbox sizing information will only be available if using Kubernetes >= 1.23 and containerd >= 1.6. CRI-O
 #   does not yet support sandbox sizing annotations.
 # - When running single containers using a tool like ctr, container sizing information will be available.
-static_sandbox_resource_mgmt = @DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT@
+static_sandbox_resource_mgmt = @DEFSTATICRESOURCEMGMT_QEMU@
 
 # If specified, sandbox_bind_mounts identifieds host paths to be mounted (ro) into the sandboxes shared path.
 # This is only valid if filesystem sharing is utilized. The provided path(s) will be bindmounted into the shared fs directory.