diff --git a/meta/conf/machine/qemuriscv64.conf b/meta/conf/machine/qemuriscv64.conf
index a753af0576..0aacfa378f 100644
--- a/meta/conf/machine/qemuriscv64.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/machine/qemuriscv64.conf
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ require conf/machine/include/riscv/qemuriscv.inc
 
 XVISOR_PLAT = "riscv/virt64"
 
+# The default QB_CPU (rva23s64) has the Vector extension, so enable it in the
+# kernel even though the default tune is rv64gc, userspace can then use V at
+# runtime. Appending here places it after riscv-isa-clear.scc, which disables V.
+KERNEL_FEATURES_RISCV:append = " arch/riscv/tunes/riscv-isa-v.scc"
+
 EXTRA_IMAGEDEPENDS += "u-boot"
 UBOOT_MACHINE = "qemu-riscv64_smode_defconfig"
 UBOOT_ELF = "u-boot"