diff --git a/hw/net/virtio-net.c b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
index a877614e3e7a..7aaf0b89981b 100644
--- a/hw/net/virtio-net.c
+++ b/hw/net/virtio-net.c
@@ -128,6 +128,13 @@ static void virtio_net_vhost_status(VirtIONet *n, uint8_t status)
     if (!n->vhost_started) {
         int r, i;
 
+        if (n->needs_vnet_hdr_swap) {
+            error_report("backend does not support %s vnet headers; "
+                         "falling back on userspace virtio",
+                         virtio_is_big_endian(vdev) ? "BE" : "LE");
+            return;
+        }
+
         /* Any packets outstanding? Purge them to avoid touching rings
          * when vhost is running.
          */
@@ -152,6 +159,40 @@ static void virtio_net_vhost_status(VirtIONet *n, uint8_t status)
     }
 }
 
+static void virtio_net_vnet_status(VirtIONet *n, uint8_t status)
+{
+    VirtIODevice *vdev = VIRTIO_DEVICE(n);
+    NetClientState *peer = qemu_get_queue(n->nic)->peer;
+
+    if (virtio_net_started(n, status)) {
+        int r;
+
+        /* Before using the device, we tell the network backend about the
+         * endianness to use when parsing vnet headers. If the backend can't
+         * do it, we fallback onto fixing the headers in the core virtio-net
+         * code.
+         */
+        if (virtio_is_big_endian(vdev)) {
+            r = qemu_set_vnet_be(peer, true);
+        } else {
+            r = qemu_set_vnet_le(peer, true);
+        }
+
+        n->needs_vnet_hdr_swap = !!r;
+    } else if (virtio_net_started(n, vdev->status)) {
+        /* After using the device, we need to reset the network backend to
+         * the default (guest native endianness), otherwise the guest may
+         * lose network connectivity if it is rebooted into a different
+         * endianness.
+         */
+        if (virtio_is_big_endian(vdev)) {
+            qemu_set_vnet_be(peer, false);
+        } else {
+            qemu_set_vnet_le(peer, false);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 static void virtio_net_set_status(struct VirtIODevice *vdev, uint8_t status)
 {
     VirtIONet *n = VIRTIO_NET(vdev);
@@ -159,6 +200,7 @@ static void virtio_net_set_status(struct VirtIODevice *vdev, uint8_t status)
     int i;
     uint8_t queue_status;
 
+    virtio_net_vnet_status(n, status);
     virtio_net_vhost_status(n, status);
 
     for (i = 0; i < n->max_queues; i++) {
@@ -957,7 +999,10 @@ static void receive_header(VirtIONet *n, const struct iovec *iov, int iov_cnt,
         void *wbuf = (void *)buf;
         work_around_broken_dhclient(wbuf, wbuf + n->host_hdr_len,
                                     size - n->host_hdr_len);
-        virtio_net_hdr_swap(VIRTIO_DEVICE(n), wbuf);
+
+        if (n->needs_vnet_hdr_swap) {
+            virtio_net_hdr_swap(VIRTIO_DEVICE(n), wbuf);
+        }
         iov_from_buf(iov, iov_cnt, 0, buf, sizeof(struct virtio_net_hdr));
     } else {
         struct virtio_net_hdr hdr = {
@@ -1167,7 +1212,7 @@ static int32_t virtio_net_flush_tx(VirtIONetQueue *q)
                 error_report("virtio-net header incorrect");
                 exit(1);
             }
-            if (virtio_needs_swap(vdev)) {
+            if (n->needs_vnet_hdr_swap) {
                 virtio_net_hdr_swap(vdev, (void *) &mhdr);
                 sg2[0].iov_base = &mhdr;
                 sg2[0].iov_len = n->guest_hdr_len;
diff --git a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-access.h b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-access.h
index 8aec843c8ff3..a01fff2e51d7 100644
--- a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-access.h
+++ b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-access.h
@@ -143,15 +143,6 @@ static inline uint64_t virtio_ldq_p(VirtIODevice *vdev, const void *ptr)
     }
 }
 
-static inline bool virtio_needs_swap(VirtIODevice *vdev)
-{
-#ifdef HOST_WORDS_BIGENDIAN
-    return virtio_access_is_big_endian(vdev) ? false : true;
-#else
-    return virtio_access_is_big_endian(vdev) ? true : false;
-#endif
-}
-
 static inline uint16_t virtio_tswap16(VirtIODevice *vdev, uint16_t s)
 {
 #ifdef HOST_WORDS_BIGENDIAN
diff --git a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-net.h b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-net.h
index f3cc25feca2b..27bc868fbc7d 100644
--- a/include/hw/virtio/virtio-net.h
+++ b/include/hw/virtio/virtio-net.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ typedef struct VirtIONet {
     uint64_t curr_guest_offloads;
     QEMUTimer *announce_timer;
     int announce_counter;
+    bool needs_vnet_hdr_swap;
 } VirtIONet;
 
 void virtio_net_set_netclient_name(VirtIONet *n, const char *name,
