diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/applicationManager.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/applicationManager.ts
index b576c721f..248b5accb 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/managers/applicationManager.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/applicationManager.ts
@@ -264,6 +264,7 @@ export class ApplicationManager {
                 Target: `/${modelName}`,
                 Source: modelPath,
                 Type: 'bind',
+                Mode: 'Z',
               },
             ],
           };
@@ -279,35 +280,21 @@ export class ApplicationManager {
             envs = [`MODEL_ENDPOINT=${endPoint}`];
           }
         }
-        const createdContainer = await containerEngine.createContainer(podInfo.engineId, {
+        const podifiedName = this.getRandomName(`${image.appName}-podified`);
+        await containerEngine.createContainer(podInfo.engineId, {
           Image: image.id,
+          name: podifiedName,
           Detach: true,
           HostConfig: hostConfig,
           Env: envs,
           start: false,
+          pod: podInfo.Id,
+        });
+        containers.push({
+          name: podifiedName,
+          modelService: image.modelService,
+          ports: image.ports,
         });
-
-        // now, for each container, put it in the pod
-        if (createdContainer) {
-          const podifiedName = this.getRandomName(`${image.appName}-podified`);
-          await containerEngine.replicatePodmanContainer(
-            {
-              id: createdContainer.id,
-              engineId: podInfo.engineId,
-            },
-            { engineId: podInfo.engineId },
-            { pod: podInfo.Id, name: podifiedName },
-          );
-          containers.push({
-            name: podifiedName,
-            modelService: image.modelService,
-            ports: image.ports,
-          });
-          // remove the external container
-          await containerEngine.deleteContainer(podInfo.engineId, createdContainer.id);
-        } else {
-          throw new Error(`failed at creating container for image ${image.id}`);
-        }
       }),
     );
     return containers;
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/models/QemuUploader.ts b/packages/backend/src/models/QemuUploader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bc9c00fdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/models/QemuUploader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/**********************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2024 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ ***********************************************************************/
+
+import * as podmanDesktopApi from '@podman-desktop/api';
+import { getFirstRunningMachine, getPodmanCli } from '../utils/podman';
+import type { UploadWorker } from './uploader';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+export class QemuUploader implements UploadWorker {
+  async canUpload(): Promise<boolean> {
+    const machine = await getFirstRunningMachine();
+    return machine.VMType === 'qemu';
+  }
+
+  async upload(localPath: string): Promise<string> {
+    if (!localPath) {
+      throw new Error('invalid local path');
+    }
+
+    const machine = await getFirstRunningMachine();
+    const remotePath = `/var/home/core/${path.basename(localPath)}`;
+    // check if model already loaded on the podman machine
+    let existsRemote = true;
+    try {
+      await podmanDesktopApi.process.exec(getPodmanCli(), ['machine', 'ssh', machine.Name, 'stat', remotePath]);
+    } catch (e) {
+      existsRemote = false;
+    }
+
+    // if not exists remotely it copies it from the local path
+    if (!existsRemote) {
+      await podmanDesktopApi.process.exec(getPodmanCli(), [
+        'machine',
+        'ssh',
+        machine.Name,
+        'cp',
+        localPath,
+        remotePath,
+      ]);
+    }
+
+    return remotePath;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/models/WSLUploader.ts b/packages/backend/src/models/WSLUploader.ts
index e70ec3124..3bfac5ce8 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/models/WSLUploader.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/models/WSLUploader.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import { getFirstRunningMachine, getPodmanCli } from '../utils/podman';
 import type { UploadWorker } from './uploader';
 
 export class WSLUploader implements UploadWorker {
-  canUpload(): boolean {
+  async canUpload(): Promise<boolean> {
     return podmanDesktopApi.env.isWindows;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/models/uploader.ts b/packages/backend/src/models/uploader.ts
index 9b38e5a29..0904824af 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/models/uploader.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/models/uploader.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ import { EventEmitter, type Event } from '@podman-desktop/api';
 import { WSLUploader } from './WSLUploader';
 import { getDurationSecondsSince } from '../utils/utils';
 import type { CompletionProgressiveEvent, ProgressiveEvent } from '../utils/progressiveEvent';
+import { QemuUploader } from './QemuUploader';
 
 export interface UploadWorker {
-  canUpload: () => boolean;
+  canUpload: () => Promise<boolean>;
   upload: (path: string) => Promise<string>;
 }
 
@@ -35,11 +36,17 @@ export class Uploader {
     private localModelPath: string,
     private abortSignal?: AbortSignal,
   ) {
-    this.#workers = [new WSLUploader()];
+    this.#workers = [new WSLUploader(), new QemuUploader()];
   }
 
   async perform(): Promise<string> {
-    const workers = this.#workers.filter(w => w.canUpload());
+    const workers = [];
+    for (const worker of this.#workers) {
+      const canUpload = await worker.canUpload();
+      if (canUpload) {
+        workers.push(worker);
+      }
+    }
     let modelPath = this.localModelPath;
     try {
       if (workers && workers.length > 1) {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/utils/podman.ts b/packages/backend/src/utils/podman.ts
index 10b989393..909de2ed7 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/utils/podman.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/utils/podman.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export type MachineJSON = {
   Starting: boolean;
   Default: boolean;
   UserModeNetworking?: boolean;
+  VMType?: string;
 };
 
 export function getPodmanCli(): string {