diff --git a/kvm-all.c b/kvm-all.c
index 38c372f34bc3b4554618fe0a53ac03e54e70abe6..91d3cbd43eab6ccee63a9cd2cf1c5fe92690a4f3 100644
--- a/kvm-all.c
+++ b/kvm-all.c
@@ -753,11 +753,13 @@ int kvm_cpu_exec(CPUState *env)
     dprintf("kvm_cpu_exec()\n");
 
     do {
+#ifndef CONFIG_IOTHREAD
         if (env->exit_request) {
             dprintf("interrupt exit requested\n");
             ret = 0;
             break;
         }
+#endif
 
         if (env->kvm_vcpu_dirty) {
             kvm_arch_put_registers(env);