diff --git a/drivers/vhost/net.c b/drivers/vhost/net.c
index 5beb20768b20..b9c8e4025214 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/net.c
+++ b/drivers/vhost/net.c
@@ -1517,6 +1517,9 @@ static long vhost_net_set_backend(struct vhost_net *n, unsigned index, int fd)
 	nvq = &n->vqs[index];
 	mutex_lock(&vq->mutex);
 
+	if (fd == -1)
+		vhost_clear_msg(&n->dev);
+
 	/* Verify that ring has been setup correctly. */
 	if (!vhost_vq_access_ok(vq)) {
 		r = -EFAULT;
diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
index da00a5c57db6..1f9a1554ce5f 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ void vhost_dev_stop(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vhost_dev_stop);
 
-static void vhost_clear_msg(struct vhost_dev *dev)
+void vhost_clear_msg(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 {
 	struct vhost_msg_node *node, *n;
 
@@ -687,6 +687,7 @@ static void vhost_clear_msg(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 
 	spin_unlock(&dev->iotlb_lock);
 }
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vhost_clear_msg);
 
 void vhost_dev_cleanup(struct vhost_dev *dev)
 {
diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vhost.h b/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
index b063324c7669..8f80d6b0d843 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vhost.h
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ long vhost_dev_ioctl(struct vhost_dev *, unsigned int ioctl, void __user *argp);
 long vhost_vring_ioctl(struct vhost_dev *d, unsigned int ioctl, void __user *argp);
 bool vhost_vq_access_ok(struct vhost_virtqueue *vq);
 bool vhost_log_access_ok(struct vhost_dev *);
+void vhost_clear_msg(struct vhost_dev *dev);
 
 int vhost_get_vq_desc(struct vhost_virtqueue *,
 		      struct iovec iov[], unsigned int iov_count,