diff --git a/pungi/checks.py b/pungi/checks.py
index 473a470a..faf18a24 100644
--- a/pungi/checks.py
+++ b/pungi/checks.py
@@ -708,6 +708,7 @@ def make_schema():
             },
             "buildinstall_topdir":  {"type": "string"},
             "buildinstall_kickstart": {"$ref": "#/definitions/str_or_scm_dict"},
+            "buildinstall_use_guestmount": {"type": "boolean", "default": True},
 
             "global_ksurl": {"type": "string"},
             "global_version": {"type": "string"},
diff --git a/pungi/phases/buildinstall.py b/pungi/phases/buildinstall.py
index 001b78bc..2d7d3cba 100644
--- a/pungi/phases/buildinstall.py
+++ b/pungi/phases/buildinstall.py
@@ -305,7 +305,9 @@ def tweak_buildinstall(compose, src, dst, arch, variant, label, volid, kickstart
         if not os.path.isfile(image):
             continue
 
-        with iso.mount(image, logger=compose._logger) as mount_tmp_dir:
+        with iso.mount(image, logger=compose._logger,
+                       use_guestmount=compose.conf.get("buildinstall_use_guestmount")
+                       ) as mount_tmp_dir:
             for config in BOOT_CONFIGS:
                 config_path = os.path.join(tmp_dir, config)
                 config_in_image = os.path.join(mount_tmp_dir, config)
diff --git a/pungi/wrappers/iso.py b/pungi/wrappers/iso.py
index c88473ba..0b8afa2a 100644
--- a/pungi/wrappers/iso.py
+++ b/pungi/wrappers/iso.py
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ def graft_point_sort_key(x):
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
-def mount(image, logger=None):
+def mount(image, logger=None, use_guestmount=True):
     """Mount an image and make sure it's unmounted.
 
     The yielded path will only be valid in the with block and is removed once
@@ -387,7 +387,8 @@ def mount(image, logger=None):
     """
     with util.temp_dir(prefix='iso-mount-') as mount_dir:
         ret, __ = run(["which", "guestmount"], can_fail=True)
-        guestmount_available = not bool(ret)  # return code 0 means that guestmount is available
+        # return code 0 means that guestmount is available
+        guestmount_available = use_guestmount and not bool(ret)
         if guestmount_available:
             # use guestmount to mount the image, which doesn't require root privileges
             # LIBGUESTFS_BACKEND=direct: running qemu directly without libvirt