diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost.c b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
index 10304b583e..32809e54b5 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
@@ -1685,7 +1685,12 @@ int vhost_dev_start(struct vhost_dev *hdev, VirtIODevice *vdev)
             goto fail_log;
         }
     }
-
+    if (hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_dev_start) {
+        r = hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_dev_start(hdev, true);
+        if (r) {
+            goto fail_log;
+        }
+    }
     if (vhost_dev_has_iommu(hdev) &&
         hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_set_iotlb_callback) {
             hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_set_iotlb_callback(hdev, true);
@@ -1723,6 +1728,9 @@ void vhost_dev_stop(struct vhost_dev *hdev, VirtIODevice *vdev)
     /* should only be called after backend is connected */
     assert(hdev->vhost_ops);
 
+    if (hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_dev_start) {
+        hdev->vhost_ops->vhost_dev_start(hdev, false);
+    }
     for (i = 0; i < hdev->nvqs; ++i) {
         vhost_virtqueue_stop(hdev,
                              vdev,