diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
index 1bef7a2be854..c0d9c47df7d4 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio-pci.c
@@ -424,6 +424,11 @@ static uint64_t virtio_pci_config_read(void *opaque, hwaddr addr,
     VirtIODevice *vdev = virtio_bus_get_device(&proxy->bus);
     uint32_t config = VIRTIO_PCI_CONFIG_SIZE(&proxy->pci_dev);
     uint64_t val = 0;
+
+    if (vdev == NULL) {
+        return UINT64_MAX;
+    }
+
     if (addr < config) {
         return virtio_ioport_read(proxy, addr);
     }
@@ -455,6 +460,11 @@ static void virtio_pci_config_write(void *opaque, hwaddr addr,
     VirtIOPCIProxy *proxy = opaque;
     uint32_t config = VIRTIO_PCI_CONFIG_SIZE(&proxy->pci_dev);
     VirtIODevice *vdev = virtio_bus_get_device(&proxy->bus);
+
+    if (vdev == NULL) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (addr < config) {
         virtio_ioport_write(proxy, addr, val);
         return;