diff --git a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine.go b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine.go
index 4f25b4d26c..0ec1bd1958 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine.go
@@ -301,30 +301,10 @@ func (v *MachineVM) Init(opts machine.InitOptions) (bool, error) {
 	mounts := []machine.Mount{}
 	for i, volume := range opts.Volumes {
 		tag := fmt.Sprintf("vol%d", i)
-		paths := strings.SplitN(volume, ":", 3)
-		source := paths[0]
-		target := source
-		readonly := false
-		securityModel := "none"
-		if len(paths) > 1 {
-			target = paths[1]
-		}
-		if len(paths) > 2 {
-			options := paths[2]
-			volopts := strings.Split(options, ",")
-			for _, o := range volopts {
-				switch {
-				case o == "rw":
-					readonly = false
-				case o == "ro":
-					readonly = true
-				case strings.HasPrefix(o, "security_model="):
-					securityModel = strings.Split(o, "=")[1]
-				default:
-					fmt.Printf("Unknown option: %s\n", o)
-				}
-			}
-		}
+		paths := pathsFromVolume(volume)
+		source := extractSourcePath(paths)
+		target := extractTargetPath(paths)
+		readonly, securityModel := extractMountOptions(paths)
 		if volumeType == VolumeTypeVirtfs {
 			virtfsOptions := fmt.Sprintf("local,path=%s,mount_tag=%s,security_model=%s", source, tag, securityModel)
 			if readonly {
@@ -1756,3 +1736,29 @@ func isRootful() bool {
 
 	return !rootless.IsRootless() && os.Getuid() != -1
 }
+
+func extractSourcePath(paths []string) string {
+	return paths[0]
+}
+
+func extractMountOptions(paths []string) (bool, string) {
+	readonly := false
+	securityModel := "none"
+	if len(paths) > 2 {
+		options := paths[2]
+		volopts := strings.Split(options, ",")
+		for _, o := range volopts {
+			switch {
+			case o == "rw":
+				readonly = false
+			case o == "ro":
+				readonly = true
+			case strings.HasPrefix(o, "security_model="):
+				securityModel = strings.Split(o, "=")[1]
+			default:
+				fmt.Printf("Unknown option: %s\n", o)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return readonly, securityModel
+}
diff --git a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_unix.go b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_unix.go
index 84ee191d18..b798d03dba 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_unix.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package qemu
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -31,3 +32,14 @@ func checkProcessStatus(processHint string, pid int, stderrBuf *bytes.Buffer) er
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func pathsFromVolume(volume string) []string {
+	return strings.SplitN(volume, ":", 3)
+}
+
+func extractTargetPath(paths []string) string {
+	if len(paths) > 1 {
+		return paths[1]
+	}
+	return paths[0]
+}
diff --git a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_windows.go b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_windows.go
index 6c63faf50c..04065cb1d3 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/qemu/machine_windows.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package qemu
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v4/pkg/machine"
 )
@@ -25,3 +27,26 @@ func checkProcessStatus(processHint string, pid int, stderrBuf *bytes.Buffer) er
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+func pathsFromVolume(volume string) []string {
+	paths := strings.SplitN(volume, ":", 3)
+	driveLetterMatcher := regexp.MustCompile(`^(?:\\\\[.?]\\)?[a-zA-Z]$`)
+	if len(paths) > 1 && driveLetterMatcher.MatchString(paths[0]) {
+		paths = strings.SplitN(volume, ":", 4)
+		paths = append([]string{paths[0] + ":" + paths[1]}, paths[2:]...)
+	}
+	return paths
+}
+
+func extractTargetPath(paths []string) string {
+	if len(paths) > 1 {
+		return paths[1]
+	}
+	target := strings.ReplaceAll(paths[0], "\\", "/")
+	target = strings.ReplaceAll(target, ":", "/")
+	if strings.HasPrefix(target, "//./") || strings.HasPrefix(target, "//?/") {
+		target = target[4:]
+	}
+	dedup := regexp.MustCompile(`//+`)
+	return dedup.ReplaceAllLiteralString("/"+target, "/")
+}