diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/qemurunner.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/qemurunner.py
index bce00c696a..8e3484385d 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/qemurunner.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/utils/qemurunner.py
@@ -589,6 +589,13 @@ class QemuRunner:
                 os.kill(self.qemupid, signal.SIGTERM)
             except ProcessLookupError as e:
                 self.logger.warning('qemu-system ended unexpectedly')
+            time.sleep(5)
+            try:
+                # qemu-system did not behave well
+                os.kill(self.qemupid, signal.SIGKILL)
+            except ProcessLookupError as e:
+                # already dead
+                pass
 
     def stop_thread(self):
         if self.thread and self.thread.is_alive():