diff --git a/kvm.c b/kvm.c
index 060fa67..b4ce2c0 100644
--- a/kvm.c
+++ b/kvm.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <limits.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -189,20 +190,31 @@ uint32_t kvm__load_kernel(struct kvm *kvm, const char *kernel_filename)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static inline uint64_t ip_flat_to_real(struct kvm *self, uint64_t ip)
+{
+	uint64_t cs = self->sregs.cs.selector;
+
+	return ip - (cs << 4);
+}
+
+static inline uint64_t ip_real_to_flat(struct kvm *self, uint64_t ip)
+{
+	uint64_t cs = self->sregs.cs.selector;
+
+	return ip + (cs << 4);
+}
+
 void kvm__reset_vcpu(struct kvm *self, uint64_t rip)
 {
-	self->regs = (struct kvm_regs) {
-		.rip		= rip,
-		.rflags		= 0x0000000000000002ULL,
-	};
-
-	if (ioctl(self->vcpu_fd, KVM_SET_REGS, &self->regs) < 0)
-		die_perror("KVM_SET_REGS failed");
+	/*
+	 * First set up segmentation because we need to translate the flat
+	 * 'rip' to segmented 16-bit cs:ip address.
+	 */
 
 	self->sregs = (struct kvm_sregs) {
 		.cr0		= 0x60000010ULL,
 		.cs		= (struct kvm_segment) {
-			.selector	= 0xf000UL,
+			.selector	= 0xfff0UL,
 			.base		= 0xffff0000UL,
 			.limit		= 0xffffU,
 			.type		= 0x0bU,
@@ -265,6 +277,19 @@ void kvm__reset_vcpu(struct kvm *self, uint64_t rip)
 
 	if (ioctl(self->vcpu_fd, KVM_SET_SREGS, &self->sregs) < 0)
 		die_perror("KVM_SET_SREGS failed");
+
+	self->regs = (struct kvm_regs) {
+		/* We start the guest in 16-bit real mode  */
+		.rip		= ip_flat_to_real(self, rip),
+		.rflags		= 0x0000000000000002ULL,
+	};
+
+	if (self->regs.rip > USHRT_MAX)
+		die("ip 0x%" PRIx64 " is too high for real mode", (uint64_t) self->regs.rip);
+
+	if (ioctl(self->vcpu_fd, KVM_SET_REGS, &self->regs) < 0)
+		die_perror("KVM_SET_REGS failed");
+
 }
 
 void kvm__run(struct kvm *self)
@@ -368,14 +393,14 @@ void kvm__show_code(struct kvm *self)
 	unsigned int i;
 	uint8_t *ip;
 
-	ip = guest_addr_to_host(self, self->regs.rip - code_prologue);
+	ip = guest_addr_to_host(self, ip_real_to_flat(self, self->regs.rip) - code_prologue);
 
 	printf("Code: ");
 
 	for (i = 0; i < code_len; i++, ip++) {
 		c = *ip;
 
-		if (ip == guest_addr_to_host(self, self->regs.rip))
+		if (ip == guest_addr_to_host(self, ip_real_to_flat(self, self->regs.rip)))
 			printf("<%02x> ", c);
 		else
 			printf("%02x ", c);