diff --git a/assemblers/org.osbuild.qemu b/assemblers/org.osbuild.qemu
index 728a6890..ab973c82 100755
--- a/assemblers/org.osbuild.qemu
+++ b/assemblers/org.osbuild.qemu
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ def main(tree, output_dir, options, loop_client):
     fmt = options["format"]
     filename = options["filename"]
     size = options["size"]
-    bootloader = options.get("bootloader", {"type": "grub2"})
+    bootloader = options.get("bootloader", {"type": "none"})
 
     # sfdisk works on sectors of 512 bytes and ignores excess space - be explicit about this
     if size % 512 != 0:
@@ -557,6 +557,11 @@ def main(tree, output_dir, options, loop_client):
     pt = partition_table_from_options(options)
     pt.write_to(image)
 
+    # For backwards comparability assume that if bootloader is not
+    # set and partition scheme is dos (MBR) grub2 is being used
+    if bootloader["type"] == "none" and pt.label == "dos":
+        bootloader["type"] = "grub2"
+
     # Install the bootloader
     if bootloader["type"] == "grub2":
         install_grub2(image, pt, bootloader)
diff --git a/samples/f30-qcow2-gpt.json b/samples/f30-qcow2-gpt.json
index 92f5c553..89161c78 100644
--- a/samples/f30-qcow2-gpt.json
+++ b/samples/f30-qcow2-gpt.json
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
     {
       "name": "org.osbuild.qemu",
       "options": {
+        "bootloader": {"type": "grub2"},
         "format": "qcow2",
         "filename": "base.qcow2",
         "ptuuid": "29579f67-d390-43e7-bd96-dc8f5461171e",