diff --git a/hw/net/vhost_net.c b/hw/net/vhost_net.c
index be3cc88370..a6b719035c 100644
--- a/hw/net/vhost_net.c
+++ b/hw/net/vhost_net.c
@@ -244,6 +244,11 @@ static int vhost_net_start_one(struct vhost_net *net,
         qemu_set_fd_handler(net->backend, NULL, NULL, NULL);
         file.fd = net->backend;
         for (file.index = 0; file.index < net->dev.nvqs; ++file.index) {
+            if (!virtio_queue_enabled(dev, net->dev.vq_index +
+                                      file.index)) {
+                /* Queue might not be ready for start */
+                continue;
+            }
             r = vhost_net_set_backend(&net->dev, &file);
             if (r < 0) {
                 r = -errno;
@@ -256,6 +261,11 @@ fail:
     file.fd = -1;
     if (net->nc->info->type == NET_CLIENT_DRIVER_TAP) {
         while (file.index-- > 0) {
+            if (!virtio_queue_enabled(dev, net->dev.vq_index +
+                                      file.index)) {
+                /* Queue might not be ready for start */
+                continue;
+            }
             int r = vhost_net_set_backend(&net->dev, &file);
             assert(r >= 0);
         }
diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index 2626a895cb..28056a7ef7 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -2318,6 +2318,11 @@ hwaddr virtio_queue_get_desc_addr(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n)
     return vdev->vq[n].vring.desc;
 }
 
+bool virtio_queue_enabled(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n)
+{
+    return virtio_queue_get_desc_addr(vdev, n) != 0;
+}
+
 hwaddr virtio_queue_get_avail_addr(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n)
 {
     return vdev->vq[n].vring.avail;
diff --git a/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h b/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
index ce9516236a..7140381e3a 100644
--- a/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
+++ b/include/hw/virtio/virtio.h
@@ -282,6 +282,7 @@ typedef struct VirtIORNGConf VirtIORNGConf;
                       VIRTIO_F_IOMMU_PLATFORM, false)
 
 hwaddr virtio_queue_get_desc_addr(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);
+bool virtio_queue_enabled(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);
 hwaddr virtio_queue_get_avail_addr(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);
 hwaddr virtio_queue_get_used_addr(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);
 hwaddr virtio_queue_get_desc_size(VirtIODevice *vdev, int n);