diff --git a/include/kvm/kvm.h b/include/kvm/kvm.h
index 7af98f9..fc76f98 100644
--- a/include/kvm/kvm.h
+++ b/include/kvm/kvm.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ struct kvm {
 };
 
 struct kvm *kvm__init(const char *kvm_dev, unsigned long ram_size);
+void kvm__init_ram(struct kvm *self);
 void kvm__delete(struct kvm *self);
 bool kvm__load_kernel(struct kvm *kvm, const char *kernel_filename,
 			const char *initrd_filename, const char *kernel_cmdline);
diff --git a/kvm-run.c b/kvm-run.c
index c3da21f..0357114 100644
--- a/kvm-run.c
+++ b/kvm-run.c
@@ -437,7 +437,11 @@ int kvm_cmd_run(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 		if (single_step)
 			kvm_cpu__enable_singlestep(kvm_cpus[i]);
+	}
 
+	kvm__init_ram(kvm);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < nrcpus; i++) {
 		if (pthread_create(&kvm_cpus[i]->thread, NULL, kvm_cpu_thread, kvm_cpus[i]) != 0)
 			die("unable to create KVM VCPU thread");
 	}
diff --git a/kvm.c b/kvm.c
index 08ff63c..eb1a46c 100644
--- a/kvm.c
+++ b/kvm.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ void kvm__delete(struct kvm *self)
 {
 	kvm__stop_timer(self);
 
-	free(self->ram_start);
+	munmap(self->ram_start, self->ram_size);
 	free(self);
 }
 
@@ -153,12 +153,27 @@ static bool kvm__cpu_supports_vm(void)
 	return regs.ecx & (1 << feature);
 }
 
-struct kvm *kvm__init(const char *kvm_dev, unsigned long ram_size)
+void kvm__init_ram(struct kvm *self)
 {
 	struct kvm_userspace_memory_region mem;
+	int ret;
+
+	mem = (struct kvm_userspace_memory_region) {
+		.slot			= 0,
+		.guest_phys_addr	= 0x0UL,
+		.memory_size		= self->ram_size,
+		.userspace_addr		= (unsigned long) self->ram_start,
+	};
+
+	ret = ioctl(self->vm_fd, KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION, &mem);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		die_perror("KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION ioctl");
+}
+
+struct kvm *kvm__init(const char *kvm_dev, unsigned long ram_size)
+{
 	struct kvm_pit_config pit_config = { .flags = 0, };
 	struct kvm *self;
-	long page_size;
 	int ret;
 
 	if (!kvm__cpu_supports_vm())
@@ -199,21 +214,10 @@ struct kvm *kvm__init(const char *kvm_dev, unsigned long ram_size)
 
 	self->ram_size		= ram_size;
 
-	page_size	= sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE);
-	if (posix_memalign(&self->ram_start, page_size, self->ram_size) != 0)
+	self->ram_start = mmap(NULL, ram_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_NORESERVE, -1, 0);
+	if (self->ram_start == MAP_FAILED)
 		die("out of memory");
 
-	mem = (struct kvm_userspace_memory_region) {
-		.slot			= 0,
-		.guest_phys_addr	= 0x0UL,
-		.memory_size		= self->ram_size,
-		.userspace_addr		= (unsigned long) self->ram_start,
-	};
-
-	ret = ioctl(self->vm_fd, KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION, &mem);
-	if (ret < 0)
-		die_perror("KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION ioctl");
-
 	ret = ioctl(self->vm_fd, KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP);
 	if (ret < 0)
 		die_perror("KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP ioctl");