diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index ac222385d6..5c981801f3 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -1108,10 +1108,7 @@ static void virtio_vmstate_change(void *opaque, int running, RunState state)
     BusState *qbus = qdev_get_parent_bus(DEVICE(vdev));
     VirtioBusClass *k = VIRTIO_BUS_GET_CLASS(qbus);
     bool backend_run = running && (vdev->status & VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK);
-
-    if (running) {
-        vdev->vm_running = running;
-    }
+    vdev->vm_running = running;
 
     if (backend_run) {
         virtio_set_status(vdev, vdev->status);
@@ -1124,10 +1121,6 @@ static void virtio_vmstate_change(void *opaque, int running, RunState state)
     if (!backend_run) {
         virtio_set_status(vdev, vdev->status);
     }
-
-    if (!running) {
-        vdev->vm_running = running;
-    }
 }
 
 void virtio_init(VirtIODevice *vdev, const char *name,