diff --git a/cmd/start.go b/cmd/start.go
index 02431597e..68d94491b 100644
--- a/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/start.go
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ var startCmdArgs struct {
 		Edit                    bool
 		Editor                  string
 		ActivateRuntime         bool
+		Binfmt                  bool
 		DNSHosts                []string
 		Foreground              bool
 		SaveConfig              bool
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ func init() {
 	}
 
 	// binfmt
-	startCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&startCmdArgs.Binfmt, "binfmt", true, binfmtDesc)
+	startCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&startCmdArgs.Flags.Binfmt, "binfmt", true, binfmtDesc)
 
 	// config
 	startCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&startCmdArgs.Flags.Edit, "edit", "e", false, "edit the configuration file before starting")
@@ -397,6 +398,7 @@ func prepareConfig(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	startCmdArgs.Mounts = mountsFromFlag(startCmdArgs.Flags.Mounts)
 	startCmdArgs.Network.DNSHosts = dnsHostsFromFlag(startCmdArgs.Flags.DNSHosts)
 	startCmdArgs.ActivateRuntime = &startCmdArgs.Flags.ActivateRuntime
+	startCmdArgs.Binfmt = &startCmdArgs.Flags.Binfmt
 
 	// handle legacy kubernetes-disable
 	for _, disable := range startCmdArgs.Flags.LegacyKubernetesDisable {
@@ -489,6 +491,11 @@ func prepareConfig(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 			startCmdArgs.ActivateRuntime = current.ActivateRuntime
 		}
 	}
+	if !cmd.Flag("binfmt").Changed {
+		if current.Binfmt != nil {
+			startCmdArgs.Binfmt = current.Binfmt
+		}
+	}
 	if !cmd.Flag("network-host-addresses").Changed {
 		startCmdArgs.Network.HostAddresses = current.Network.HostAddresses
 	}
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 797911fed..bebed35cd 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	// VM
 	VMType               string `yaml:"vmType,omitempty"`
 	VZRosetta            bool   `yaml:"rosetta,omitempty"`
-	Binfmt               bool   `yaml:"binfmt,omitempty"`
+	Binfmt               *bool  `yaml:"binfmt,omitempty"`
 	NestedVirtualization bool   `yaml:"nestedVirtualization,omitempty"`
 	DiskImage            string `yaml:"diskImage,omitempty"`
 
diff --git a/environment/vm/lima/lima.go b/environment/vm/lima/lima.go
index 0e8d90cee..587a6e5c9 100644
--- a/environment/vm/lima/lima.go
+++ b/environment/vm/lima/lima.go
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ func (l *limaVM) addPostStartActions(a *cli.ActiveCommandChain, conf config.Conf
 	a.Add(func() error {
 		if !l.limaConf.Rosetta.Enabled {
 			// use binfmt when rosetta is disabled and emulation is disabled i.e. host arch
-			if l.conf.Binfmt {
+			if conf.Binfmt != nil && *conf.Binfmt {
 				if arch := environment.HostArch(); arch == environment.Arch(conf.Arch).Value() {
 					if err := core.SetupBinfmt(l.host, l, environment.Arch(conf.Arch)); err != nil {
 						logrus.Warn(fmt.Errorf("unable to enable qemu %s emulation: %w", arch, err))