diff --git a/tests/templates/nova-compute-overrides.j2 b/tests/templates/nova-compute-overrides.j2
index 26c756a0430d5c9e7f3e4c17f79f8c9e6a49ce45..209c050ac75720b9bcc59362cb35c3d4196db882 100644
--- a/tests/templates/nova-compute-overrides.j2
+++ b/tests/templates/nova-compute-overrides.j2
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 [libvirt]
 {% if ansible_architecture == 'aarch64' %}
 cpu_mode=custom
-cpu_model=max
+# cpu_model=max fails to boot multiple images with QEMU 7.0 and -M virt (works with "-M virt-6.2")
+cpu_model=cortex-a72
 {% endif %}