diff --git a/lib/beaker/hypervisor/vmpooler.rb b/lib/beaker/hypervisor/vmpooler.rb
index 9381a67..db63f7f 100644
--- a/lib/beaker/hypervisor/vmpooler.rb
+++ b/lib/beaker/hypervisor/vmpooler.rb
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ module Beaker
     end
 
     def connection_preference(host)
-      ['vmhostname', 'ip', 'hostname']
+      [:vmhostname, :ip, :hostname]
     end
 
     def check_url url