diff --git a/docker/nova-compute/nova-libvirt/start.sh b/docker/nova-compute/nova-libvirt/start.sh
index 740f67f67dff90d4cd9d395e2e77e087c1981d2c..d92f52ab0e7ef9ab7871a834e3cdee32f545dce4 100755
--- a/docker/nova-compute/nova-libvirt/start.sh
+++ b/docker/nova-compute/nova-libvirt/start.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+
+# If libvirt is not installed on the host permissions need to be set
+chmod 660 /dev/kvm
+chown root:kvm /dev/kvm
+
 echo "Starting libvirtd."
 exec /usr/sbin/libvirtd