diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
index 5ca97713bfb3..9bc107200709 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
@@ -1713,6 +1713,12 @@ static int virtnet_probe(struct virtio_device *vdev)
 	struct virtnet_info *vi;
 	u16 max_queue_pairs;
 
+	if (!vdev->config->get) {
+		dev_err(&vdev->dev, "%s failure: config access disabled\n",
+			__func__);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (!virtnet_validate_features(vdev))
 		return -EINVAL;