diff --git a/internal/daemon/daemon.go b/internal/daemon/daemon.go
index 6275508..3fc4e88 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	defaultGuestKernelArgs      = "console=ttyS0 reboot=k"
+	defaultGuestKernelArgs      = "console=ttyS0 reboot=k panic=0"
 	defaultGuestKernelArgsNoPCI = defaultGuestKernelArgs + " pci=off"
 	defaultGuestMemoryMiB       = int64(3072)
 	defaultGuestVCPUs           = int64(2)
diff --git a/internal/daemon/files.go b/internal/daemon/files.go
index a61cd94..e612b85 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/files.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/files.go
@@ -647,3 +647,7 @@ func syncDir(path string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func repairDirtyFilesystem(diskPath string) {
+	_ = exec.Command("e2fsck", "-fy", diskPath).Run()
+}
diff --git a/internal/daemon/lifecycle.go b/internal/daemon/lifecycle.go
index 8078145..42a4708 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/lifecycle.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/lifecycle.go
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ func (d *Daemon) StartMachine(ctx context.Context, id contracthost.MachineID) (*
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	repairDirtyFilesystem(systemVolume.Path)
+
 	spec, err := d.buildMachineSpec(id, artifact, userVolumes, systemVolume.Path, record.GuestConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err