diff --git a/examples/default.yaml b/examples/default.yaml
index 4fb77a50c2d9..276b01965c31 100644
--- a/examples/default.yaml
+++ b/examples/default.yaml
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ additionalDisks:
 # - "data"
 # or a list of disk objects with extra parameters, for example:
 # - name: "data"
+#   format: true
+#   fsType: "ext4"
 
 ssh:
   # A localhost port of the host. Forwarded to port 22 of the guest.
diff --git a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/05-lima-disks.sh b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/05-lima-disks.sh
index eef49937f85b..a4802e0299f5 100644
--- a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/05-lima-disks.sh
+++ b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/05-lima-disks.sh
@@ -12,14 +12,20 @@ get_disk_var() {
 for i in $(seq 0 $((LIMA_CIDATA_DISKS - 1))); do
 	DISK_NAME="$(get_disk_var "$i" "NAME")"
 	DEVICE_NAME="$(get_disk_var "$i" "DEVICE")"
+	FORMAT_DISK="$(get_disk_var "$i" "FORMAT")"
+	FORMAT_FSTYPE="$(get_disk_var "$i" "FSTYPE")"
+
+	test -n "$FORMAT_DISK" || FORMAT_DISK=true
+	test -n "$FORMAT_FSTYPE" || FORMAT_FSTYPE=ext4
 
 	# first time setup
 	if [[ ! -b "/dev/disk/by-label/lima-${DISK_NAME}" ]]; then
-		# TODO: skip if disk is tagged as "raw"
-		echo 'type=linux' | sfdisk --label gpt "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}"
-		mkfs.ext4 -L "lima-${DISK_NAME}" "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}1"
+		if $FORMAT_DISK; then
+			echo 'type=linux' | sfdisk --label gpt "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}"
+			mkfs.$FORMAT_FSTYPE -L "lima-${DISK_NAME}" "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}1"
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	mkdir -p "/mnt/lima-${DISK_NAME}"
-	mount -t ext4 "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}1" "/mnt/lima-${DISK_NAME}"
+	mount -t $FORMAT_FSTYPE "/dev/${DEVICE_NAME}1" "/mnt/lima-${DISK_NAME}"
 done
diff --git a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/lima.env b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/lima.env
index 941286c85192..44db5aa636bb 100644
--- a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/lima.env
+++ b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/lima.env
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ LIMA_CIDATA_DISKS={{ len .Disks }}
 {{- range $i, $disk := .Disks}}
 LIMA_CIDATA_DISK_{{$i}}_NAME={{$disk.Name}}
 LIMA_CIDATA_DISK_{{$i}}_DEVICE={{$disk.Device}}
+LIMA_CIDATA_DISK_{{$i}}_FORMAT={{$disk.Format}}
+{{- if $disk.FSType}}
+LIMA_CIDATA_DISK_{{$i}}_FSTYPE={{$disk.FSType}}
+{{- end}}
 {{- end}}
 {{- if .Containerd.User}}
 LIMA_CIDATA_CONTAINERD_USER=1
diff --git a/pkg/cidata/cidata.go b/pkg/cidata/cidata.go
index ddba61775ad6..7642df100806 100644
--- a/pkg/cidata/cidata.go
+++ b/pkg/cidata/cidata.go
@@ -203,9 +203,19 @@ func GenerateISO9660(instDir, name string, y *limayaml.LimaYAML, udpDNSLocalPort
 	}
 
 	for i, d := range y.AdditionalDisks {
+		format := true
+		if d.Format != nil {
+			format = *d.Format
+		}
+		fstype := ""
+		if d.FSType != nil {
+			fstype = *d.FSType
+		}
 		args.Disks = append(args.Disks, Disk{
 			Name:   d.Name,
 			Device: diskDeviceNameFromOrder(i),
+			Format: format,
+			FSType: fstype,
 		})
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/cidata/template.go b/pkg/cidata/template.go
index dff7a0a3ebe1..32a38616590e 100644
--- a/pkg/cidata/template.go
+++ b/pkg/cidata/template.go
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ type BootCmds struct {
 type Disk struct {
 	Name   string
 	Device string
+	Format bool
+	FSType string
 }
 type TemplateArgs struct {
 	Name               string // instance name
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
index 419a9ce207e7..0c47462ca521 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ type Image struct {
 
 type Disk struct {
 	Name   string  `yaml:"name" json:"name"` // REQUIRED
+	Format *bool   `yaml:"format,omitempty" json:"format,omitempty"`
+	FSType *string `yaml:"fsType,omitempty" json:"fsType,omitEmpty"`
 }
 
 type Mount struct {
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/load_test.go b/pkg/limayaml/load_test.go
index 30323c643d45..351e79bd6d4d 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/load_test.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/load_test.go
@@ -40,15 +40,23 @@ additionalDisks:
 	assert.NilError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, len(y.AdditionalDisks), 1)
 	assert.Equal(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].Name, "name")
+	assert.Assert(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].Format == nil)
+	assert.Assert(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].FSType == nil)
 }
 
 func TestLoadDiskStruct(t *testing.T) {
 	s := `
 additionalDisks:
 - name: "name"
+  format: false
+  fsType: "xfs"
 `
 	y, err := Load([]byte(s), "disk.yaml")
 	assert.NilError(t, err)
 	assert.Assert(t, len(y.AdditionalDisks) == 1)
 	assert.Equal(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].Name, "name")
+	assert.Assert(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].Format != nil)
+	assert.Equal(t, *y.AdditionalDisks[0].Format, false)
+	assert.Assert(t, y.AdditionalDisks[0].FSType != nil)
+	assert.Equal(t, *y.AdditionalDisks[0].FSType, "xfs")
 }