diff --git a/scripts/start-emulator.sh b/scripts/start-emulator.sh
index ca36d46..a4a81d7 100755
--- a/scripts/start-emulator.sh
+++ b/scripts/start-emulator.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 SDK="${ANDROID_SDK_ROOT:-$HOME/Android/Sdk}"
+# Prefer the working host SDK at /opt/android-sdk: the emulator that
+# ~/Android/Sdk auto-updated to on Oct 11 (37.2.12) fails its own KVM probe
+# ("/dev/kvm is not found") with KVM perfectly healthy — /opt/android-sdk and
+# the container-home copy both pass -accel-check on the same kernel, so that
+# install is broken. /opt/android-sdk is the documented host SDK anyway.
+if [ -z "${ANDROID_SDK_ROOT:-}" ] && [ -x /opt/android-sdk/emulator/emulator ]; then
+  SDK=/opt/android-sdk
+fi
 EMU="$SDK/emulator/emulator"
 ADB="$SDK/platform-tools/adb"
 SDKM="$SDK/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager"