diff --git a/devicemodel/hw/pci/virtio/virtio_mei.c b/devicemodel/hw/pci/virtio/virtio_mei.c
index 21b4aa1f7..d51841dcf 100644
--- a/devicemodel/hw/pci/virtio/virtio_mei.c
+++ b/devicemodel/hw/pci/virtio/virtio_mei.c
@@ -1984,6 +1984,9 @@ vmei_reset_callback(int fd, enum ev_type type, void *param)
 	char buf[MEI_DEV_STATE_LEN] = {0};
 	int sz;
 
+	if (vmei->status != VMEI_STS_READY)
+		return;
+
 	lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
 	sz = read(fd, buf, 12);
 	if (first_time) {