diff --git a/lib/vhost/vhost.c b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
index 415d532fe..366c1282e 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -1195,12 +1195,8 @@ start_device(int vid)
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		/* Disable notifications. */
-		if (rte_vhost_enable_guest_notification(vid, i, 0) != 0) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("vhost device %d: Failed to disable guest notification on queue %"PRIu16"\n", vid, i);
-			goto out;
-		}
-
+		/* Disable I/O submission notifications, we'll be polling. */
+		q->vring.used->flags = VRING_USED_F_NO_NOTIFY;
 		vsession->max_queues = i + 1;
 	}