diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.c
index 712f9d14e720..195a3b24e624 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.c
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ static const struct intel_gvt_ops intel_gvt_ops = {
 	.emulate_mmio_write = intel_vgpu_emulate_mmio_write,
 	.vgpu_create = intel_gvt_create_vgpu,
 	.vgpu_destroy = intel_gvt_destroy_vgpu,
+	.vgpu_release = intel_gvt_release_vgpu,
 	.vgpu_reset = intel_gvt_reset_vgpu,
 	.vgpu_activate = intel_gvt_activate_vgpu,
 	.vgpu_deactivate = intel_gvt_deactivate_vgpu,
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.h
index 9a9671522774..31f6cdbe5c42 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/gvt.h
@@ -486,6 +486,7 @@ void intel_gvt_destroy_idle_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
 struct intel_vgpu *intel_gvt_create_vgpu(struct intel_gvt *gvt,
 					 struct intel_vgpu_type *type);
 void intel_gvt_destroy_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
+void intel_gvt_release_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
 void intel_gvt_reset_vgpu_locked(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu, bool dmlr,
 				 unsigned int engine_mask);
 void intel_gvt_reset_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
@@ -563,7 +564,8 @@ struct intel_gvt_ops {
 				unsigned int);
 	struct intel_vgpu *(*vgpu_create)(struct intel_gvt *,
 				struct intel_vgpu_type *);
-	void (*vgpu_destroy)(struct intel_vgpu *);
+	void (*vgpu_destroy)(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
+	void (*vgpu_release)(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu);
 	void (*vgpu_reset)(struct intel_vgpu *);
 	void (*vgpu_activate)(struct intel_vgpu *);
 	void (*vgpu_deactivate)(struct intel_vgpu *);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/kvmgt.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/kvmgt.c
index 32ec5748f176..80b49a1a1281 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/kvmgt.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/kvmgt.c
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ static void __intel_vgpu_release(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu)
 	if (atomic_cmpxchg(&vgpu->vdev.released, 0, 1))
 		return;
 
-	intel_gvt_ops->vgpu_deactivate(vgpu);
+	intel_gvt_ops->vgpu_release(vgpu);
 
 	ret = vfio_unregister_notifier(mdev_dev(vgpu->vdev.mdev), VFIO_IOMMU_NOTIFY,
 					&vgpu->vdev.iommu_notifier);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.c
index b0e566956b8d..43aa058e29fc 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.c
@@ -784,7 +784,8 @@ static void update_guest_context(struct intel_vgpu_workload *workload)
 	kunmap(page);
 }
 
-static void clean_workloads(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu, unsigned long engine_mask)
+void intel_vgpu_clean_workloads(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu,
+				unsigned long engine_mask)
 {
 	struct intel_vgpu_submission *s = &vgpu->submission;
 	struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv = vgpu->gvt->dev_priv;
@@ -879,7 +880,7 @@ static void complete_current_workload(struct intel_gvt *gvt, int ring_id)
 		 * cleaned up during the resetting process later, so doing
 		 * the workload clean up here doesn't have any impact.
 		 **/
-		clean_workloads(vgpu, ENGINE_MASK(ring_id));
+		intel_vgpu_clean_workloads(vgpu, ENGINE_MASK(ring_id));
 	}
 
 	workload->complete(workload);
@@ -1081,7 +1082,7 @@ void intel_vgpu_reset_submission(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu,
 	if (!s->active)
 		return;
 
-	clean_workloads(vgpu, engine_mask);
+	intel_vgpu_clean_workloads(vgpu, engine_mask);
 	s->ops->reset(vgpu, engine_mask);
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.h
index 21eddab4a9cd..ca5529d0e48e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/scheduler.h
@@ -158,4 +158,7 @@ intel_vgpu_create_workload(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu, int ring_id,
 
 void intel_vgpu_destroy_workload(struct intel_vgpu_workload *workload);
 
+void intel_vgpu_clean_workloads(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu,
+				unsigned long engine_mask);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/vgpu.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/vgpu.c
index f6fa916517c3..ce0d93bf67fb 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/vgpu.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gvt/vgpu.c
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ void intel_gvt_activate_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu)
  * @vgpu: virtual GPU
  *
  * This function is called when user wants to deactivate a virtual GPU.
- * All virtual GPU runtime information will be destroyed.
+ * The virtual GPU will be stopped.
  *
  */
 void intel_gvt_deactivate_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu)
@@ -238,11 +238,29 @@ void intel_gvt_deactivate_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu)
 	}
 
 	intel_vgpu_stop_schedule(vgpu);
-	intel_vgpu_dmabuf_cleanup(vgpu);
 
 	mutex_unlock(&vgpu->vgpu_lock);
 }
 
+/**
+ * intel_gvt_release_vgpu - release a virtual GPU
+ * @vgpu: virtual GPU
+ *
+ * This function is called when user wants to release a virtual GPU.
+ * The virtual GPU will be stopped and all runtime information will be
+ * destroyed.
+ *
+ */
+void intel_gvt_release_vgpu(struct intel_vgpu *vgpu)
+{
+	intel_gvt_deactivate_vgpu(vgpu);
+
+	mutex_lock(&vgpu->vgpu_lock);
+	intel_vgpu_clean_workloads(vgpu, ALL_ENGINES);
+	intel_vgpu_dmabuf_cleanup(vgpu);
+	mutex_unlock(&vgpu->vgpu_lock);
+}
+
 /**
  * intel_gvt_destroy_vgpu - destroy a virtual GPU
  * @vgpu: virtual GPU