diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 23f7e26..21d5158 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ git clone https://git.zxq5.dev/OsDev/FoundryOS.git
 * latest rust nightly release
 * all necessary rust components installed
 * xorriso: creates ISO images to be booted from.
-* (Optional / Recommended) Qemu: to run the kernel. (this may be packaged as qemu-desktop)
+* (Optional / Recommended) qemu: to run the kernel. (this may be packaged as qemu-desktop)
 * (Optional) GDB: for debugging the kernel.
 
 ```sh
@@ -20,12 +20,29 @@ rustup component add rust-src
 rustup component add llvm-tools-preview
 ```
 
-## Building & Running in Qemu:
+## Building & Running in qemu
 ```sh
 cargo run
 ```
 
-## Running in GDB:
+## Running in GDB
 ```sh
 USE_GDB=1 cargo run
 ```
+
+## Build errors
+
+If you see a qemu error like this:
+
+```
+qemu-system-x86_64: -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=/home/jacob/Desktop/Code/FoundryOS/build/OVMF_CODE.fd: Could not open '/home/jacob/Desktop/Code/FoundryOS/build/OVMF_CODE.fd': No such file or directory
+```
+
+Simply delete the ./build directory and try to rebuild the program. Using the runner script or `cargo run` will download the required files for you, this is because the script only checks for the presence of one file and not the VARS file.
+
+Alternatively, you may disable using a UEFI firmware with qemu like so:
+```sh
+USE_LEGACY_BIOS=1 cargo run
+```
+
+If you have any other issues, feel free to create an issue or a PR.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/run_debug.sh b/scripts/run_debug.sh
index b538ce7..91bcdb6 100755
--- a/scripts/run_debug.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_debug.sh
@@ -135,6 +135,23 @@ else
     debug_flags=""
 fi
 
+if [ $USE_LEGACY_BIOS ]; then
+    boot_flags=""
+else
+#   Check for the presence of the OVMF firmware.
+    if [ ! -f $build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd ]; then
+        info "Downloading OVMF UEFI firmware for QEMU"
+        info "To disable this, set USE_LEGACY_BIOS=1."
+        pushd $build_dir
+        curl https://retrage.github.io/edk2-nightly/bin/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd -LO || error "failed to download OVMF firmware for UEFI"
+        curl https://retrage.github.io/edk2-nightly/bin/RELEASEX64_OVMF_VARS.fd -LO || error "failed to download OVMF firmware for UEFI"
+        popd
+    fi
+
+    boot_flags="-drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=$build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd \
+                -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=$build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_VARS.fd"
+fi
+
 # Set up test-specific flags
 if [ $is_test -eq 1 ]; then
     test_flags="-device isa-debug-exit,iobase=0xf4,iosize=0x04 -display none"
@@ -189,5 +206,6 @@ qemu-system-x86_64 -M q35 \
     -no-reboot \
     ${test_flags} \
     ${debug_flags} \
+    ${boot_flags} \
     ${QEMU_FLAGS:-}
 
diff --git a/scripts/run_release.sh b/scripts/run_release.sh
index 97f6134..c410362 100755
--- a/scripts/run_release.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_release.sh
@@ -131,6 +131,23 @@ fi
 # I'm lazy but I just remove GDB flags when running this script.
 debug_flags=""
 
+if [ $USE_LEGACY_BIOS ]; then
+    boot_flags=""
+else
+#   Check for the presence of the OVMF firmware.
+    if [ ! -f $build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd ]; then
+        info "Downloading OVMF UEFI firmware for QEMU"
+        info "To disable this, set USE_LEGACY_BIOS=1."
+        pushd $build_dir
+        curl https://retrage.github.io/edk2-nightly/bin/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd -LO || error "failed to download OVMF firmware for UEFI"
+        curl https://retrage.github.io/edk2-nightly/bin/RELEASEX64_OVMF_VARS.fd -LO || error "failed to download OVMF firmware for UEFI"
+        popd
+    fi
+
+    boot_flags="-drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=$build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_CODE.fd \
+                -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=$build_dir/RELEASEX64_OVMF_VARS.fd"
+fi
+
 # Set up test-specific flags
 if [ $is_test -eq 1 ]; then
     test_flags="-device isa-debug-exit,iobase=0xf4,iosize=0x04 -display none"