diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 937658359e..762d7cee85 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2866,8 +2866,10 @@ common_ss.add(hwcore)
 # Targets #
 ###########
 
+emulator_modules = []
 foreach m : block_mods + softmmu_mods
-  shared_module(m.name(),
+  emulator_modules += shared_module(m.name(),
+                build_by_default: true,
                 name_prefix: '',
                 link_whole: m,
                 install: true,
diff --git a/tests/qtest/meson.build b/tests/qtest/meson.build
index 37e1eaa449..26937deb6d 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/meson.build
+++ b/tests/qtest/meson.build
@@ -335,10 +335,9 @@ foreach dir : target_dirs
         test: executable(test, src, dependencies: deps)
       }
     endif
-    # FIXME: missing dependency on the emulator binary and qemu-img
     test('qtest-@0@/@1@'.format(target_base, test),
          qtest_executables[test],
-         depends: [test_deps, qtest_emulator],
+         depends: [test_deps, qtest_emulator, emulator_modules],
          env: qtest_env,
          args: ['--tap', '-k'],
          protocol: 'tap',