diff --git a/scripts/qemustart b/scripts/qemustart
index 7a2878ea70..f0ddefb839 100755
--- a/scripts/qemustart
+++ b/scripts/qemustart
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ start_qemu_x86() {
 	local mach="${o_mach:-pc}"
 
 	[ -n "$rootfs" ] || {
-		rootfs="$o_bindir/openwrt-$o_target-${o_subtarget%-*}-generic-ext4-combined.img"
+		rootfs="$o_bindir/openwrt-$o_target-${o_subtarget%-*}-generic-squashfs-combined.img"
 		if [ ! -f "$rootfs" -a -s "$rootfs.gz" ]; then
 			gunzip "$rootfs.gz"
 		fi