diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index 9e10cbc058..42589adf2c 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -2331,8 +2331,12 @@ void virtio_reset(void *opaque)
         vdev->device_endian = virtio_default_endian();
     }
 
-    if (vdev->vhost_started && k->get_vhost) {
-        vhost_reset_device(k->get_vhost(vdev));
+    if (k->get_vhost) {
+        struct vhost_dev *hdev = k->get_vhost(vdev);
+        /* Only reset when vhost back-end is connected */
+        if (hdev && hdev->vhost_ops) {
+            vhost_reset_device(hdev);
+        }
     }
 
     if (k->reset) {