diff --git a/templates/qemu.conf.j2 b/templates/qemu.conf.j2
index bcfb946..6c19f79 100644
--- a/templates/qemu.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/qemu.conf.j2
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@
 #       user = "+0"     # Super user (uid=0)
 #       user = "100"    # A user named "100" or a user with uid=100
 #
-user = {{virt_default_user}}
+user = "{{virt_default_user}}"
 
 # The group for QEMU processes run by the system instance. It can be
 # specified in a similar way to user.