diff --git a/hw/virtio-balloon.c b/hw/virtio-balloon.c
index 072a88a382..5f8f4bdb9f 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-balloon.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-balloon.c
@@ -303,6 +303,8 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_balloon_init(DeviceState *dev)
 void virtio_balloon_exit(VirtIODevice *vdev)
 {
     VirtIOBalloon *s = DO_UPCAST(VirtIOBalloon, vdev, vdev);
+
+    qemu_remove_balloon_handler(s);
     unregister_savevm(s->qdev, "virtio-balloon", s);
     virtio_cleanup(vdev);
 }