diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost.c b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
index 250f886acb..27c1ec5fe8 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost.c
@@ -1223,7 +1223,7 @@ int vhost_dev_init(struct vhost_dev *hdev, void *opaque,
         if (!(hdev->features & (0x1ULL << VHOST_F_LOG_ALL))) {
             error_setg(&hdev->migration_blocker,
                        "Migration disabled: vhost lacks VHOST_F_LOG_ALL feature.");
-        } else if (vhost_dev_log_is_shared(hdev) && !qemu_memfd_check()) {
+        } else if (vhost_dev_log_is_shared(hdev) && !qemu_memfd_alloc_check()) {
             error_setg(&hdev->migration_blocker,
                        "Migration disabled: failed to allocate shared memory");
         }
diff --git a/include/qemu/memfd.h b/include/qemu/memfd.h
index de10198ed6..49e79634da 100644
--- a/include/qemu/memfd.h
+++ b/include/qemu/memfd.h
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 int qemu_memfd_create(const char *name, size_t size, bool hugetlb,
                       uint64_t hugetlbsize, unsigned int seals, Error **errp);
+bool qemu_memfd_alloc_check(void);
 void *qemu_memfd_alloc(const char *name, size_t size, unsigned int seals,
                        int *fd, Error **errp);
 void qemu_memfd_free(void *ptr, size_t size, int fd);
diff --git a/util/memfd.c b/util/memfd.c
index 07d579ea7d..b3ecbac19e 100644
--- a/util/memfd.c
+++ b/util/memfd.c
@@ -173,7 +173,13 @@ enum {
     MEMFD_TODO
 };
 
-bool qemu_memfd_check(void)
+/**
+ * qemu_memfd_alloc_check():
+ *
+ * Check if qemu_memfd_alloc() can allocate, including using a
+ * fallback implementation when host doesn't support memfd.
+ */
+bool qemu_memfd_alloc_check(void)
 {
     static int memfd_check = MEMFD_TODO;
 
@@ -188,3 +194,29 @@ bool qemu_memfd_check(void)
 
     return memfd_check == MEMFD_OK;
 }
+
+/**
+ * qemu_memfd_check():
+ *
+ * Check if host supports memfd.
+ */
+bool qemu_memfd_check(void)
+{
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+    static int memfd_check = MEMFD_TODO;
+
+    if (memfd_check == MEMFD_TODO) {
+        int mfd = memfd_create("test", 0);
+        if (mfd >= 0) {
+            memfd_check = MEMFD_OK;
+            close(mfd);
+        } else {
+            memfd_check = MEMFD_KO;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return memfd_check == MEMFD_OK;
+#else
+    return false;
+#endif
+}