diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
index 883045a223..4a3dcee771 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
@@ -1364,9 +1364,14 @@ static uint64_t virtio_pci_isr_read(void *opaque, hwaddr addr,
 {
     VirtIOPCIProxy *proxy = opaque;
     VirtIODevice *vdev = virtio_bus_get_device(&proxy->bus);
-    uint64_t val = qatomic_xchg(&vdev->isr, 0);
-    pci_irq_deassert(&proxy->pci_dev);
+    uint64_t val;
 
+    if (vdev == NULL) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    val = qatomic_xchg(&vdev->isr, 0);
+    pci_irq_deassert(&proxy->pci_dev);
     return val;
 }