diff --git a/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.c b/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.c
index 9b268f4d493288ec9e71121db080264d9aeb130b..90ef557c8c92795c9822c4b7cd8f2dba697deecf 100644
--- a/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.c
+++ b/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.c
@@ -88,23 +88,28 @@ void virtio_blk_data_plane_create(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtIOBlkConf *conf,
 
     *dataplane = NULL;
 
-    if (!conf->iothread) {
-        return;
-    }
+    if (conf->iothread) {
+        if (!k->set_guest_notifiers || !k->ioeventfd_assign) {
+            error_setg(errp,
+                       "device is incompatible with iothread "
+                       "(transport does not support notifiers)");
+            return;
+        }
+        if (!virtio_device_ioeventfd_enabled(vdev)) {
+            error_setg(errp, "ioeventfd is required for iothread");
+            return;
+        }
 
-    /* Don't try if transport does not support notifiers. */
-    if (!k->set_guest_notifiers || !k->ioeventfd_assign) {
-        error_setg(errp,
-                   "device is incompatible with dataplane "
-                   "(transport does not support notifiers)");
-        return;
+        /* If dataplane is (re-)enabled while the guest is running there could
+         * be block jobs that can conflict.
+         */
+        if (blk_op_is_blocked(conf->conf.blk, BLOCK_OP_TYPE_DATAPLANE, errp)) {
+            error_prepend(errp, "cannot start virtio-blk dataplane: ");
+            return;
+        }
     }
-
-    /* If dataplane is (re-)enabled while the guest is running there could be
-     * block jobs that can conflict.
-     */
-    if (blk_op_is_blocked(conf->conf.blk, BLOCK_OP_TYPE_DATAPLANE, errp)) {
-        error_prepend(errp, "cannot start dataplane thread: ");
+    /* Don't try if transport does not support notifiers. */
+    if (!virtio_device_ioeventfd_enabled(vdev)) {
         return;
     }
 
@@ -112,9 +117,13 @@ void virtio_blk_data_plane_create(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtIOBlkConf *conf,
     s->vdev = vdev;
     s->conf = conf;
 
-    s->iothread = conf->iothread;
-    object_ref(OBJECT(s->iothread));
-    s->ctx = iothread_get_aio_context(s->iothread);
+    if (conf->iothread) {
+        s->iothread = conf->iothread;
+        object_ref(OBJECT(s->iothread));
+        s->ctx = iothread_get_aio_context(s->iothread);
+    } else {
+        s->ctx = qemu_get_aio_context();
+    }
     s->bh = aio_bh_new(s->ctx, notify_guest_bh, s);
     s->batch_notify_vqs = bitmap_new(conf->num_queues);
 
@@ -124,14 +133,19 @@ void virtio_blk_data_plane_create(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtIOBlkConf *conf,
 /* Context: QEMU global mutex held */
 void virtio_blk_data_plane_destroy(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s)
 {
+    VirtIOBlock *vblk;
+
     if (!s) {
         return;
     }
 
-    virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(s);
+    vblk = VIRTIO_BLK(s->vdev);
+    assert(!vblk->dataplane_started);
     g_free(s->batch_notify_vqs);
     qemu_bh_delete(s->bh);
-    object_unref(OBJECT(s->iothread));
+    if (s->iothread) {
+        object_unref(OBJECT(s->iothread));
+    }
     g_free(s);
 }
 
@@ -147,17 +161,18 @@ static void virtio_blk_data_plane_handle_output(VirtIODevice *vdev,
 }
 
 /* Context: QEMU global mutex held */
-void virtio_blk_data_plane_start(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s)
+int virtio_blk_data_plane_start(VirtIODevice *vdev)
 {
-    BusState *qbus = BUS(qdev_get_parent_bus(DEVICE(s->vdev)));
+    VirtIOBlock *vblk = VIRTIO_BLK(vdev);
+    VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s = vblk->dataplane;
+    BusState *qbus = BUS(qdev_get_parent_bus(DEVICE(vblk)));
     VirtioBusClass *k = VIRTIO_BUS_GET_CLASS(qbus);
-    VirtIOBlock *vblk = VIRTIO_BLK(s->vdev);
     unsigned i;
     unsigned nvqs = s->conf->num_queues;
     int r;
 
     if (vblk->dataplane_started || s->starting) {
-        return;
+        return 0;
     }
 
     s->starting = true;
@@ -204,20 +219,22 @@ void virtio_blk_data_plane_start(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s)
                 virtio_blk_data_plane_handle_output);
     }
     aio_context_release(s->ctx);
-    return;
+    return 0;
 
   fail_guest_notifiers:
     vblk->dataplane_disabled = true;
     s->starting = false;
     vblk->dataplane_started = true;
+    return -ENOSYS;
 }
 
 /* Context: QEMU global mutex held */
-void virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s)
+void virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(VirtIODevice *vdev)
 {
-    BusState *qbus = BUS(qdev_get_parent_bus(DEVICE(s->vdev)));
+    VirtIOBlock *vblk = VIRTIO_BLK(vdev);
+    VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s = vblk->dataplane;
+    BusState *qbus = qdev_get_parent_bus(DEVICE(vblk));
     VirtioBusClass *k = VIRTIO_BUS_GET_CLASS(qbus);
-    VirtIOBlock *vblk = VIRTIO_BLK(s->vdev);
     unsigned i;
     unsigned nvqs = s->conf->num_queues;
 
diff --git a/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.h b/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.h
index b1f0b95b32f4fb9d8c151ea772a46bc04cd8c9a7..db3f47b173adef8e185603c0bb997a29db6c4e3d 100644
--- a/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.h
+++ b/hw/block/dataplane/virtio-blk.h
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ void virtio_blk_data_plane_create(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtIOBlkConf *conf,
                                   VirtIOBlockDataPlane **dataplane,
                                   Error **errp);
 void virtio_blk_data_plane_destroy(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s);
-void virtio_blk_data_plane_start(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s);
-void virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s);
-void virtio_blk_data_plane_drain(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s);
 void virtio_blk_data_plane_notify(VirtIOBlockDataPlane *s, VirtQueue *vq);
 
+int virtio_blk_data_plane_start(VirtIODevice *vdev);
+void virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(VirtIODevice *vdev);
+
 #endif /* HW_DATAPLANE_VIRTIO_BLK_H */
diff --git a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
index 37fe72bdcd82b2e870eee7e06c1e49893aae56c5..0c5fd275939fe884ac356660f3b70551c32ff6ea 100644
--- a/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
+++ b/hw/block/virtio-blk.c
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ static void virtio_blk_handle_output(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
         /* Some guests kick before setting VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK so start
          * dataplane here instead of waiting for .set_status().
          */
-        virtio_blk_data_plane_start(s->dataplane);
+        virtio_device_start_ioeventfd(vdev);
         if (!s->dataplane_disabled) {
             return;
         }
@@ -687,11 +687,9 @@ static void virtio_blk_reset(VirtIODevice *vdev)
         virtio_blk_free_request(req);
     }
 
-    if (s->dataplane) {
-        virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(s->dataplane);
-    }
     aio_context_release(ctx);
 
+    assert(!s->dataplane_started);
     blk_set_enable_write_cache(s->blk, s->original_wce);
 }
 
@@ -789,9 +787,8 @@ static void virtio_blk_set_status(VirtIODevice *vdev, uint8_t status)
 {
     VirtIOBlock *s = VIRTIO_BLK(vdev);
 
-    if (s->dataplane && !(status & (VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER |
-                                    VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK))) {
-        virtio_blk_data_plane_stop(s->dataplane);
+    if (!(status & (VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER | VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK))) {
+        assert(!s->dataplane_started);
     }
 
     if (!(status & VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK)) {
@@ -919,7 +916,7 @@ static void virtio_blk_device_realize(DeviceState *dev, Error **errp)
     s->sector_mask = (s->conf.conf.logical_block_size / BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE) - 1;
 
     for (i = 0; i < conf->num_queues; i++) {
-        virtio_add_queue_aio(vdev, 128, virtio_blk_handle_output);
+        virtio_add_queue(vdev, 128, virtio_blk_handle_output);
     }
     virtio_blk_data_plane_create(vdev, conf, &s->dataplane, &err);
     if (err != NULL) {
@@ -1002,6 +999,8 @@ static void virtio_blk_class_init(ObjectClass *klass, void *data)
     vdc->reset = virtio_blk_reset;
     vdc->save = virtio_blk_save_device;
     vdc->load = virtio_blk_load_device;
+    vdc->start_ioeventfd = virtio_blk_data_plane_start;
+    vdc->stop_ioeventfd = virtio_blk_data_plane_stop;
 }
 
 static const TypeInfo virtio_blk_info = {