diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
index 20d6a08616128f64c33a7b0fbbeec3f51280bf17..301920ec1bfb3c4aadd6c956d311434bb4c7a478 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
@@ -1740,7 +1740,7 @@ static void virtio_pci_realize(PCIDevice *pci_dev, Error **errp)
     bool pcie_port = pci_bus_is_express(pci_dev->bus) &&
                      !pci_bus_is_root(pci_dev->bus);
 
-    if (!kvm_has_many_ioeventfds()) {
+    if (kvm_enabled() && !kvm_has_many_ioeventfds()) {
         proxy->flags &= ~VIRTIO_PCI_FLAG_USE_IOEVENTFD;
     }