diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
index 78d10099af94992a8dad85f1c90300623f607f86..fcba7d309796a4d4f609f9231cd1ee70f79549bd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_process.c
@@ -2098,6 +2098,11 @@ qemuProcessDetectIOThreadPIDs(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     int ret = -1;
     size_t i;
 
+    if (!virQEMUCapsGet(priv->qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_OBJECT_IOTHREAD)) {
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     /* Get the list of IOThreads from qemu */
     if (qemuDomainObjEnterMonitorAsync(driver, vm, asyncJob) < 0)
         goto cleanup;