diff --git a/hw/virtio/vhost-shadow-virtqueue.c b/hw/virtio/vhost-shadow-virtqueue.c
index e2184a4481..560d07ab36 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/vhost-shadow-virtqueue.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/vhost-shadow-virtqueue.c
@@ -327,11 +327,12 @@ static void vhost_handle_guest_kick_notifier(EventNotifier *n)
 
 static bool vhost_svq_more_used(VhostShadowVirtqueue *svq)
 {
+    uint16_t *used_idx = &svq->vring.used->idx;
     if (svq->last_used_idx != svq->shadow_used_idx) {
         return true;
     }
 
-    svq->shadow_used_idx = cpu_to_le16(svq->vring.used->idx);
+    svq->shadow_used_idx = cpu_to_le16(*(volatile uint16_t *)used_idx);
 
     return svq->last_used_idx != svq->shadow_used_idx;
 }