diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index e6b9bf8459..61dce13b2f 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ const (
 	networkPlugin         = "network-plugin"
 	hypervVirtualSwitch   = "hyperv-virtual-switch"
 	kvmNetwork            = "kvm-network"
+	kvmCPUModel           = "kvm-cpu-model"
 	keepContext           = "keep-context"
 	createMount           = "mount"
 	featureGates          = "feature-gates"
@@ -145,6 +146,7 @@ func runStart(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		HostOnlyCIDR:        viper.GetString(hostOnlyCIDR),
 		HypervVirtualSwitch: viper.GetString(hypervVirtualSwitch),
 		KvmNetwork:          viper.GetString(kvmNetwork),
+		KvmCPUModel:         viper.GetString(kvmCPUModel),
 		Downloader:          pkgutil.DefaultDownloader{},
 		DisableDriverMounts: viper.GetBool(disableDriverMounts),
 		UUID:                viper.GetString(uuid),
@@ -379,6 +381,7 @@ func init() {
 	startCmd.Flags().String(hostOnlyCIDR, "192.168.99.1/24", "The CIDR to be used for the minikube VM (only supported with Virtualbox driver)")
 	startCmd.Flags().String(hypervVirtualSwitch, "", "The hyperv virtual switch name. Defaults to first found. (only supported with HyperV driver)")
 	startCmd.Flags().String(kvmNetwork, "default", "The KVM network name. (only supported with KVM driver)")
+	startCmd.Flags().String(kvmCPUModel, "custom", "The KVM CPU model name. (only supported with KVM driver)")
 	startCmd.Flags().String(xhyveDiskDriver, "ahci-hd", "The disk driver to use [ahci-hd|virtio-blk] (only supported with xhyve driver)")
 	startCmd.Flags().StringSlice(NFSShare, []string{}, "Local folders to share with Guest via NFS mounts (Only supported on with hyperkit now)")
 	startCmd.Flags().String(NFSSharesRoot, "/nfsshares", "Where to root the NFS Shares (defaults to /nfsshares, only supported with hyperkit now)")
diff --git a/docs/drivers.md b/docs/drivers.md
index d059af8c4f..1a4ef6a93f 100644
--- a/docs/drivers.md
+++ b/docs/drivers.md
@@ -54,6 +54,16 @@ To use the driver you would do:
 minikube start --vm-driver kvm2
 ```
 
+##### Nesting
+
+The KVM2 driver allows to run [nested VMs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization#Nested_virtualization)
+if the right CPU model is specyfied when launching minikube:
+
+```shell
+minikube --start --vm-driver kvm2 --kvm-cpu-model host-model
+```
+
+
 #### KVM driver
 
 Minikube is currently tested against [`docker-machine-driver-kvm` v0.10.0](https://github.com/dhiltgen/docker-machine-kvm/releases).
diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kvm/domain.go b/pkg/drivers/kvm/domain.go
index 1942583a5b..c85c07d908 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kvm/domain.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kvm/domain.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ const domainTmpl = `
     <apic/>
     <pae/>
   </features>
+  <cpu mode='{{.CPUModel}}'/>
   <os>
     <type>hvm</type>
     <boot dev='cdrom'/>
diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kvm/kvm.go b/pkg/drivers/kvm/kvm.go
index 5bdc647574..564ea2097c 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kvm/kvm.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kvm/kvm.go
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ type Driver struct {
 	// How many cpus to allocate to the VM
 	CPU int
 
+	// What CPU model to expose
+	CPUModel string
+
 	// The name of the default network
 	Network string
 
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@ func NewDriver(hostName, storePath string) *Driver {
 		CommonDriver:   &pkgdrivers.CommonDriver{},
 		Boot2DockerURL: constants.DefaultIsoUrl,
 		CPU:            constants.DefaultCPUS,
+		CPUModel:       constants.DefaultCPUModel,
 		DiskSize:       util.CalculateDiskSizeInMB(constants.DefaultDiskSize),
 		Memory:         constants.DefaultMemory,
 		PrivateNetwork: defaultPrivateNetworkName,
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/cluster/cluster_linux.go b/pkg/minikube/cluster/cluster_linux.go
index fb21521cef..cc93cf9f1e 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/cluster/cluster_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/cluster/cluster_linux.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type kvmDriver struct {
 	Memory         int
 	DiskSize       int
 	CPU            int
+	CPUModel       string
 	Network        string
 	PrivateNetwork string
 	ISO            string
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ func createKVM2Host(config MachineConfig) *kvmDriver {
 		},
 		Memory:         config.Memory,
 		CPU:            config.CPUs,
+		CPUModel:       config.KvmCPUModel,
 		Network:        config.KvmNetwork,
 		PrivateNetwork: "minikube-net",
 		Boot2DockerURL: config.Downloader.GetISOFileURI(config.MinikubeISO),
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/cluster/types.go b/pkg/minikube/cluster/types.go
index e535d05f96..efbd43e906 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/cluster/types.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/cluster/types.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ type MachineConfig struct {
 	HostOnlyCIDR        string // Only used by the virtualbox driver
 	HypervVirtualSwitch string
 	KvmNetwork          string             // Only used by the KVM driver
+	KvmCPUModel         string             // Only used by the KVM driver
 	Downloader          util.ISODownloader `json:"-"`
 	DockerOpt           []string           // Each entry is formatted as KEY=VALUE.
 	DisableDriverMounts bool               // Only used by virtualbox and xhyve
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
index e4f237fb31..13502ce7f3 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ const (
 	ShaSuffix           = ".sha256"
 	DefaultMemory       = 2048
 	DefaultCPUS         = 2
+	DefaultCPUModel     = "custom"
 	DefaultDiskSize     = "20g"
 	MinimumDiskSizeMB   = 2000
 	DefaultVMDriver     = "virtualbox"