diff --git a/pkg/qemu/qemu.go b/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
index 49f55f03eef..f093e8a4c12 100644
--- a/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
+++ b/pkg/qemu/qemu.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"os/user"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
@@ -615,11 +616,20 @@ func getFirmware(qemuExe string, arch limayaml.Arch) (string, error) {
 	default:
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("unexpected architecture: %q", arch)
 	}
-	binDir := filepath.Dir(qemuExe)  // "/usr/local/bin"
-	localDir := filepath.Dir(binDir) // "/usr/local"
 
+	currentUser, err := user.Current()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	binDir := filepath.Dir(qemuExe)                              // "/usr/local/bin"
+	localDir := filepath.Dir(binDir)                             // "/usr/local"
+	userLocalDir := filepath.Join(currentUser.HomeDir, ".local") // "$HOME/.local"
+
+	relativePath := fmt.Sprintf("share/qemu/edk2-%s-code.fd", arch)
 	candidates := []string{
-		filepath.Join(localDir, fmt.Sprintf("share/qemu/edk2-%s-code.fd", arch)), // macOS (homebrew)
+		filepath.Join(userLocalDir, relativePath), // XDG-like
+		filepath.Join(localDir, relativePath),     // macOS (homebrew)
 	}
 
 	switch arch {
@@ -648,5 +658,5 @@ func getFirmware(qemuExe string, arch limayaml.Arch) (string, error) {
 	if arch == limayaml.X8664 {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("could not find firmware for %q (hint: try setting `firmware.legacyBIOS` to `true`)", qemuExe)
 	}
-	return "", fmt.Errorf("could not find firmware for %q", qemuExe)
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("could not find firmware for %q (hint: try copying the \"edk-%s-code.fd\" firmware to $HOME/.local/share/qemu/)", arch, qemuExe)
 }