diff --git a/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c b/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
index 92f6af6da699..73354ee27877 100644
--- a/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
+++ b/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
@@ -951,6 +951,7 @@ static int rpmsg_probe(struct virtio_device *vdev)
 	void *bufs_va;
 	int err = 0, i;
 	size_t total_buf_space;
+	bool notify;
 
 	vrp = kzalloc(sizeof(*vrp), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!vrp)
@@ -1030,8 +1031,22 @@ static int rpmsg_probe(struct virtio_device *vdev)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Prepare to kick but don't notify yet - we can't do this before
+	 * device is ready.
+	 */
+	notify = virtqueue_kick_prepare(vrp->rvq);
+
+	/* From this point on, we can notify and get callbacks. */
+	virtio_device_ready(vdev);
+
 	/* tell the remote processor it can start sending messages */
-	virtqueue_kick(vrp->rvq);
+	/*
+	 * this might be concurrent with callbacks, but we are only
+	 * doing notify, not a full kick here, so that's ok.
+	 */
+	if (notify)
+		virtqueue_notify(vrp->rvq);
 
 	dev_info(&vdev->dev, "rpmsg host is online\n");