diff --git a/internal/vm/vm.go b/internal/vm/vm.go
index 65449c0..18b06e4 100644
--- a/internal/vm/vm.go
+++ b/internal/vm/vm.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ type VMSpecOpts struct {
 // It configures a containerDisk for the OS image, cloudInitNoCloud for userdata,
 // masquerade networking, and virtio disk bus.
 func BuildVMSpec(opts VMSpecOpts) *kubevirtv1.VirtualMachine {
-	running := true
+	runStrategy := kubevirtv1.RunStrategyAlways
 
 	disks := []kubevirtv1.Disk{
 		{
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func BuildVMSpec(opts VMSpecOpts) *kubevirtv1.VirtualMachine {
 			Labels:    opts.Labels,
 		},
 		Spec: kubevirtv1.VirtualMachineSpec{
-			Running: &running,
+			RunStrategy: &runStrategy,
 			Template: &kubevirtv1.VirtualMachineInstanceTemplateSpec{
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Labels: opts.Labels,
diff --git a/internal/vm/vm_test.go b/internal/vm/vm_test.go
index 72aa776..3aaf674 100644
--- a/internal/vm/vm_test.go
+++ b/internal/vm/vm_test.go
@@ -99,9 +99,9 @@ var _ = Describe("BuildVMSpec", func() {
 		Expect(memReq.Equal(expected)).To(BeTrue())
 	})
 
-	It("should set running to true", func() {
-		Expect(result.Spec.Running).NotTo(BeNil())
-		Expect(*result.Spec.Running).To(BeTrue())
+	It("should set RunStrategy to Always", func() {
+		Expect(result.Spec.RunStrategy).NotTo(BeNil())
+		Expect(*result.Spec.RunStrategy).To(Equal(kubevirtv1.RunStrategyAlways))
 	})
 
 	It("should configure masquerade networking", func() {