diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
index a62a4c975188..a6a4332bbd77 100644
--- a/config.json
+++ b/config.json
@@ -1413,7 +1413,8 @@
                 "${BUILDDIR}/../meta-virtualization"
             ],
             "extravars" : [
-                "DISTRO_FEATURES:append = ' virtualization xen'"
+                "DISTRO_FEATURES:append = ' virtualization xen'",
+                "INIT_MANAGER = 'systemd'"
             ],
             "step1" : {
                 "shortname": "Xen for qemux86-64",