diff --git a/test/vhost/common.sh b/test/vhost/common.sh
index 7e724796b..fbe37c5b6 100644
--- a/test/vhost/common.sh
+++ b/test/vhost/common.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function vhosttestinit() {
 	fi
 
 	# Look for the VM image
-	if [[ ! -f $VM_IMAGE ]]; then
+	if [[ "$1" != "--no_vm" ]] && [[ ! -f $VM_IMAGE ]]; then
 		error "VM image not found at $VM_IMAGE"
 		exit 1
 	fi
diff --git a/test/vhost/shared/shared.sh b/test/vhost/shared/shared.sh
index bbf0fd858..bc06517bc 100755
--- a/test/vhost/shared/shared.sh
+++ b/test/vhost/shared/shared.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function run_spdk_fio() {
 		--spdk_mem=1024 --spdk_single_seg=1 --spdk_json_conf=$testdir/bdev.json "$@"
 }
 
-vhosttestinit
+vhosttestinit "--no_vm"
 
 trap 'error_exit "${FUNCNAME}" "${LINENO}"' ERR SIGTERM SIGABRT