diff --git a/aarch64/src/lib.rs b/aarch64/src/lib.rs
index e891f58372..58496ec9a2 100644
--- a/aarch64/src/lib.rs
+++ b/aarch64/src/lib.rs
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ impl AArch64 {
     /// This returns a base part of the kernel command for this architecture
     fn get_base_linux_cmdline() -> kernel_cmdline::Cmdline {
         let mut cmdline = kernel_cmdline::Cmdline::new(sys_util::pagesize());
-        cmdline.insert_str("console=ttyS0 panic=1").unwrap();
+        cmdline.insert_str("console=ttyS0 panic=-1").unwrap();
         cmdline
     }
 
diff --git a/x86_64/src/lib.rs b/x86_64/src/lib.rs
index 51c670c250..fb4825c53e 100644
--- a/x86_64/src/lib.rs
+++ b/x86_64/src/lib.rs
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ impl X8664arch {
     fn get_base_linux_cmdline() -> kernel_cmdline::Cmdline {
         let mut cmdline = kernel_cmdline::Cmdline::new(CMDLINE_MAX_SIZE as usize);
         cmdline
-            .insert_str("console=ttyS0 noacpi reboot=k panic=1")
+            .insert_str("console=ttyS0 noacpi reboot=k panic=-1")
             .unwrap();
         cmdline
     }