diff --git a/hw/s390-virtio-bus.c b/hw/s390-virtio-bus.c
index d5cb24ec77..092e65f0ca 100644
--- a/hw/s390-virtio-bus.c
+++ b/hw/s390-virtio-bus.c
@@ -330,6 +330,8 @@ static VirtIOS390DeviceInfo s390_virtio_net = {
         DEFINE_NIC_PROPERTIES(VirtIOS390Device, nic),
         DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("x-txtimer", VirtIOS390Device,
                            net.txtimer, TX_TIMER_INTERVAL),
+        DEFINE_PROP_INT32("x-txburst", VirtIOS390Device,
+                          net.txburst, TX_BURST),
         DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
     },
 };
diff --git a/hw/syborg_virtio.c b/hw/syborg_virtio.c
index 5665189aad..3c3f3b025b 100644
--- a/hw/syborg_virtio.c
+++ b/hw/syborg_virtio.c
@@ -298,6 +298,8 @@ static SysBusDeviceInfo syborg_virtio_net_info = {
         DEFINE_VIRTIO_NET_FEATURES(SyborgVirtIOProxy, host_features),
         DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("x-txtimer", SyborgVirtIOProxy,
                            net.txtimer, TX_TIMER_INTERVAL),
+        DEFINE_PROP_INT32("x-txburst", SyborgVirtIOProxy,
+                          net.txburst, TX_BURST),
         DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
     }
 };
diff --git a/hw/virtio-net.c b/hw/virtio-net.c
index d5b03ab368..55f3d945f1 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-net.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ typedef struct VirtIONet
     NICState *nic;
     QEMUTimer *tx_timer;
     uint32_t tx_timeout;
+    int32_t tx_burst;
     int tx_timer_active;
     uint32_t has_vnet_hdr;
     uint8_t has_ufo;
@@ -620,7 +621,7 @@ static ssize_t virtio_net_receive(VLANClientState *nc, const uint8_t *buf, size_
     return size;
 }
 
-static void virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONet *n, VirtQueue *vq);
+static int32_t virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONet *n, VirtQueue *vq);
 
 static void virtio_net_tx_complete(VLANClientState *nc, ssize_t len)
 {
@@ -636,16 +637,18 @@ static void virtio_net_tx_complete(VLANClientState *nc, ssize_t len)
 }
 
 /* TX */
-static void virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONet *n, VirtQueue *vq)
+static int32_t virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONet *n, VirtQueue *vq)
 {
     VirtQueueElement elem;
+    int32_t num_packets = 0;
 
-    if (!(n->vdev.status & VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK))
-        return;
+    if (!(n->vdev.status & VIRTIO_CONFIG_S_DRIVER_OK)) {
+        return num_packets;
+    }
 
     if (n->async_tx.elem.out_num) {
         virtio_queue_set_notification(n->tx_vq, 0);
-        return;
+        return num_packets;
     }
 
     while (virtqueue_pop(vq, &elem)) {
@@ -682,14 +685,19 @@ static void virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONet *n, VirtQueue *vq)
             virtio_queue_set_notification(n->tx_vq, 0);
             n->async_tx.elem = elem;
             n->async_tx.len  = len;
-            return;
+            return -EBUSY;
         }
 
         len += ret;
 
         virtqueue_push(vq, &elem, len);
         virtio_notify(&n->vdev, vq);
+
+        if (++num_packets >= n->tx_burst) {
+            break;
+        }
     }
+    return num_packets;
 }
 
 static void virtio_net_handle_tx(VirtIODevice *vdev, VirtQueue *vq)
@@ -934,6 +942,7 @@ VirtIODevice *virtio_net_init(DeviceState *dev, NICConf *conf,
     n->tx_timer = qemu_new_timer(vm_clock, virtio_net_tx_timer, n);
     n->tx_timer_active = 0;
     n->tx_timeout = net->txtimer;
+    n->tx_burst = net->txburst;
     n->mergeable_rx_bufs = 0;
     n->promisc = 1; /* for compatibility */
 
diff --git a/hw/virtio-net.h b/hw/virtio-net.h
index 46a2e1c57d..a2d1545e4c 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-net.h
+++ b/hw/virtio-net.h
@@ -49,9 +49,17 @@
 
 #define TX_TIMER_INTERVAL 150000 /* 150 us */
 
+/* Limit the number of packets that can be sent via a single flush
+ * of the TX queue.  This gives us a guaranteed exit condition and
+ * ensures fairness in the io path.  256 conveniently matches the
+ * length of the TX queue and shows a good balance of performance
+ * and latency. */
+#define TX_BURST 256
+
 typedef struct virtio_net_conf
 {
     uint32_t txtimer;
+    int32_t txburst;
 } virtio_net_conf;
 
 /* Maximum packet size we can receive from tap device: header + 64k */
diff --git a/hw/virtio-pci.c b/hw/virtio-pci.c
index 1af48e295f..3a5b3e6b23 100644
--- a/hw/virtio-pci.c
+++ b/hw/virtio-pci.c
@@ -693,6 +693,8 @@ static PCIDeviceInfo virtio_info[] = {
             DEFINE_NIC_PROPERTIES(VirtIOPCIProxy, nic),
             DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("x-txtimer", VirtIOPCIProxy,
                                net.txtimer, TX_TIMER_INTERVAL),
+            DEFINE_PROP_INT32("x-txburst", VirtIOPCIProxy,
+                              net.txburst, TX_BURST),
             DEFINE_PROP_END_OF_LIST(),
         },
         .qdev.reset = virtio_pci_reset,