diff --git a/hw/net/virtio-net.c b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
index a6ff000cd9d..58014a92ad1 100644
--- a/hw/net/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
@@ -2865,6 +2865,10 @@ static void virtio_net_handle_tx_bh(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
     VirtIONet *n = VIRTIO_NET(vdev);
     VirtIONetQueue *q = &n->vqs[vq2q(virtio_get_queue_index(vq))];
 
+    if (unlikely(n->vhost_started)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (unlikely((n->status & VIRTIO_NET_S_LINK_UP) == 0)) {
         virtio_net_drop_tx_queue_data(vdev, vq);
         return;