diff --git a/hw/display/vhost-user-gpu.c b/hw/display/vhost-user-gpu.c
index 3e911da795..a01f9315e1 100644
--- a/hw/display/vhost-user-gpu.c
+++ b/hw/display/vhost-user-gpu.c
@@ -193,10 +193,8 @@ vhost_user_gpu_handle_display(VhostUserGPU *g, VhostUserGpuMsg *msg)
         s = &g->parent_obj.scanout[m->scanout_id];
         con = s->con;
 
-        if (m->scanout_id == 0 && m->width == 0) {
-            s->ds = qemu_create_placeholder_surface(640, 480,
-                                                    "Guest disabled display.");
-            dpy_gfx_replace_surface(con, s->ds);
+        if (m->width == 0) {
+            dpy_gfx_replace_surface(con, NULL);
         } else {
             s->ds = qemu_create_displaysurface(m->width, m->height);
             /* replace surface on next update */
diff --git a/hw/display/virtio-gpu-3d.c b/hw/display/virtio-gpu-3d.c
index 0b0c11474d..9eb489077b 100644
--- a/hw/display/virtio-gpu-3d.c
+++ b/hw/display/virtio-gpu-3d.c
@@ -179,10 +179,8 @@ static void virgl_cmd_set_scanout(VirtIOGPU *g,
             info.width, info.height,
             ss.r.x, ss.r.y, ss.r.width, ss.r.height);
     } else {
-        if (ss.scanout_id != 0) {
-            dpy_gfx_replace_surface(
-                g->parent_obj.scanout[ss.scanout_id].con, NULL);
-        }
+        dpy_gfx_replace_surface(
+            g->parent_obj.scanout[ss.scanout_id].con, NULL);
         dpy_gl_scanout_disable(g->parent_obj.scanout[ss.scanout_id].con);
     }
     g->parent_obj.scanout[ss.scanout_id].resource_id = ss.resource_id;
@@ -595,9 +593,7 @@ void virtio_gpu_virgl_reset(VirtIOGPU *g)
 
     virgl_renderer_reset();
     for (i = 0; i < g->parent_obj.conf.max_outputs; i++) {
-        if (i != 0) {
-            dpy_gfx_replace_surface(g->parent_obj.scanout[i].con, NULL);
-        }
+        dpy_gfx_replace_surface(g->parent_obj.scanout[i].con, NULL);
         dpy_gl_scanout_disable(g->parent_obj.scanout[i].con);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hw/display/virtio-gpu-base.c b/hw/display/virtio-gpu-base.c
index 4a57350917..25f8920fdb 100644
--- a/hw/display/virtio-gpu-base.c
+++ b/hw/display/virtio-gpu-base.c
@@ -193,9 +193,6 @@ virtio_gpu_base_device_realize(DeviceState *qdev,
     for (i = 0; i < g->conf.max_outputs; i++) {
         g->scanout[i].con =
             graphic_console_init(DEVICE(g), i, &virtio_gpu_ops, g);
-        if (i > 0) {
-            dpy_gfx_replace_surface(g->scanout[i].con, NULL);
-        }
     }
 
     return true;
diff --git a/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c b/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
index c1f17bec17..c9f5e36fd0 100644
--- a/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
+++ b/hw/display/virtio-gpu.c
@@ -325,7 +325,6 @@ static void virtio_gpu_disable_scanout(VirtIOGPU *g, int scanout_id)
 {
     struct virtio_gpu_scanout *scanout = &g->parent_obj.scanout[scanout_id];
     struct virtio_gpu_simple_resource *res;
-    DisplaySurface *ds = NULL;
 
     if (scanout->resource_id == 0) {
         return;
@@ -336,13 +335,7 @@ static void virtio_gpu_disable_scanout(VirtIOGPU *g, int scanout_id)
         res->scanout_bitmask &= ~(1 << scanout_id);
     }
 
-    if (scanout_id == 0) {
-        /* primary head */
-        ds = qemu_create_placeholder_surface(scanout->width  ?: 640,
-                                             scanout->height ?: 480,
-                                             "Guest disabled display.");
-    }
-    dpy_gfx_replace_surface(scanout->con, ds);
+    dpy_gfx_replace_surface(scanout->con, NULL);
     scanout->resource_id = 0;
     scanout->ds = NULL;
     scanout->width = 0;