diff --git a/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user.c b/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user.c
index a8a7ae8..796be4b 100644
--- a/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user.c
+++ b/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user.c
@@ -73,7 +73,9 @@
 static void
 unmap_all_mem_regions (vhost_user_intf_t * vui)
 {
-  int i, r;
+  int i, r, q;
+  vhost_user_vring_t *vq;
+
   for (i = 0; i < vui->nregions; i++)
     {
       if (vui->region_mmap_addr[i] != MAP_FAILED)
@@ -104,6 +106,14 @@
 	}
     }
   vui->nregions = 0;
+
+  for (q = 0; q < VHOST_VRING_MAX_N; q++)
+    {
+      vq = &vui->vrings[q];
+      vq->avail = 0;
+      vq->used = 0;
+      vq->desc = 0;
+    }
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user_input.c b/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user_input.c
index 1a7a0c4..2614048 100644
--- a/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user_input.c
+++ b/src/vnet/devices/virtio/vhost_user_input.c
@@ -259,6 +259,10 @@
   u16 thread_index = vm->thread_index;
   u16 copy_len = 0;
 
+  /* The descriptor table is not ready yet */
+  if (PREDICT_FALSE (txvq->avail == 0))
+    return 0;
+
   {
     /* do we have pending interrupts ? */
     vhost_user_vring_t *rxvq = &vui->vrings[VHOST_VRING_IDX_RX (qid)];