diff --git a/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/exceptions.rb b/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/exceptions.rb
index 528e0f1e..5eed1f67 100644
--- a/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/exceptions.rb
+++ b/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/exceptions.rb
@@ -6,4 +6,6 @@
 module AutoHCK
   # A custom QemuHCKError error exception
   class QemuHCKError < SetupManagerError; end
+
+  class QemuRunError < QemuHCKError; end
 end
diff --git a/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/qemu_machine.rb b/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/qemu_machine.rb
index 2dd9cfc6..e3f3d852 100644
--- a/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/qemu_machine.rb
+++ b/lib/setupmanagers/qemuhck/qemu_machine.rb
@@ -89,6 +89,20 @@ def run_qemu(scope)
         qemu
       end
 
+      def check_fails_too_quickly(status)
+        if status&.zero?
+          @first_fail_time = nil
+          false
+        end
+
+        if @first_fail_time.nil?
+          @first_fail_time = Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
+          false
+        else
+          (Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC) - @first_fail_time) <= 10
+        end
+      end
+
       def run_vm
         @machine.dump_config
 
@@ -99,7 +113,7 @@ def run_vm
               @machine.run_pre_start_commands
 
               qemu = run_qemu(scope)
-              qemu.wait_no_fail
+              @fails_quickly = check_fails_too_quickly(qemu.wait_no_fail&.exitstatus)
               qemu = nil
             ensure
               unless qemu.nil?
@@ -109,6 +123,8 @@ def run_vm
               @machine.run_post_stop_commands
             end
 
+            raise QemuRunError, 'QEMU fails repeated too quickly' if @fails_quickly
+
             break unless @keep_alive
           end
         end