diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index 23483c7..e487e36 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -2291,7 +2291,7 @@ static bool virtio_queue_host_notifier_aio_poll(void *opaque)
     VirtQueue *vq = container_of(n, VirtQueue, host_notifier);
     bool progress;
 
-    if (virtio_queue_empty(vq)) {
+    if (!vq->vring.desc || virtio_queue_empty(vq)) {
         return false;
     }