diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index c9d99de8..a5ed15ea 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 target = "aarch64-unknown-none-softfloat"
 
 [target.aarch64-unknown-none-softfloat]
-runner = "scripts/qemu-runner.sh"
+runner = "scripts/qemu_runner.py"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index e75e51db..d77f7391 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         if: ${{ matrix.smp-feature == '' }}
         run: |
-          cargo run -r --no-default-features -- /bin/usertest >> usertest.log
+          cargo run -r --no-default-features -- --init /bin/usertest >> usertest.log
           cargo test -r --no-default-features >> unittest.log
       # If any feature is enabled
       - name: Run tests
         if: ${{ matrix.smp-feature == 'smp' }}
         run: |
-          cargo run -r --no-default-features --features "${{ matrix.smp-feature }}" -- /bin/usertest >> usertest.log
+          cargo run -r --no-default-features --features "${{ matrix.smp-feature }}" -- --init /bin/usertest >> usertest.log
           cargo test -r --no-default-features --features "${{ matrix.smp-feature }}" >> unittest.log
       - name: Display usertest output
         run: cat usertest.log
diff --git a/scripts/qemu-runner.sh b/scripts/qemu-runner.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 1827e701..00000000
--- a/scripts/qemu-runner.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -e
-
-# First argument: the ELF file to run (required)
-# Second argument: init script to run (optional, defaults to /bin/sh)
-# Parse args:
-if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
-    echo "Usage: $0 <elf-file>"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-if [ -n "$2" ]; then
-    append_args="--init=$2"
-else
-    append_args="--init=/bin/sh --init-arg=-i"
-fi
-
-
-base="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )"/.. && pwd )"
-
-elf="$1"
-bin="${elf%.elf}.bin"
-
-# Convert to binary format
-aarch64-none-elf-objcopy -O binary "$elf" "$bin"
-qemu-system-aarch64 -M virt,gic-version=3 -initrd moss.img -cpu cortex-a72 -m 2G -smp 4 -nographic -s -kernel "$bin" -append "$append_args --rootfs=ext4fs --automount=/dev,devfs --automount=/tmp,tmpfs --automount=/proc,procfs --automount=/sys,sysfs"
diff --git a/scripts/qemu_runner.py b/scripts/qemu_runner.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..5ffbd25f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/qemu_runner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+import argparse
+import subprocess
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="QEMU runner")
+
+parser.add_argument("elf_executable", help="Location of compiled ELF executable to run")
+# QEMU options
+parser.add_argument("--init", default="/bin/sh", help="Location of the init process (in the rootfs)")
+parser.add_argument("--rootfs", default="moss.img", help="Location of the root filesystem image to use")
+parser.add_argument("--cpu", default="cortex-a72")
+parser.add_argument("--smp", default=4, help="Number of CPU cores to use")
+parser.add_argument("--memory", default="2G")
+parser.add_argument("--debug", action="store_true", help="Enable QEMU debugging")
+
+
+
+args = parser.parse_args()
+
+
+elf_executable = args.elf_executable
+bin_executable_location = elf_executable.replace(".elf", "") + ".bin"
+# Convert the ELF executable to a binary format
+subprocess.run(["aarch64-none-elf-objcopy", "-O", "binary", elf_executable, bin_executable_location], check=True)
+
+append_args = ""
+
+if args.init.split("/")[-1] in ["bash", "sh"]:
+    append_args = f"--init={args.init} --init-arg=-i"
+else:
+    append_args = f"--init={args.init}"
+
+default_args = {
+    "-M": "virt,gic-version=3",
+    "-initrd": args.rootfs,
+    "-cpu": args.cpu,
+    "-m": args.memory,
+    "-smp": str(args.smp),
+    "-nographic": None,
+    "-s": None,
+    "-kernel": bin_executable_location,
+    "-append": f"{append_args} --rootfs=ext4fs --automount=/dev,devfs --automount=/tmp,tmpfs --automount=/proc,procfs --automount=/sys,sysfs"
+}
+
+if args.debug:
+    default_args["-S"] = None
+
+qemu_command = ["qemu-system-aarch64"]
+
+for key, value in default_args.items():
+    qemu_command.append(key)
+    if value is not None:
+        qemu_command.append(value)
+
+subprocess.run(qemu_command, check=True)