diff --git a/stubs/ram-block.c b/stubs/ram-block.c
index 73c0a3ee08..108197683b 100644
--- a/stubs/ram-block.c
+++ b/stubs/ram-block.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "exec/ramlist.h"
 #include "exec/cpu-common.h"
+#include "exec/memory.h"
 
 void *qemu_ram_get_host_addr(RAMBlock *rb)
 {
@@ -29,3 +30,8 @@ int qemu_ram_foreach_block(RAMBlockIterFunc func, void *opaque)
 {
     return 0;
 }
+
+int ram_block_discard_disable(bool state)
+{
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/util/vfio-helpers.c b/util/vfio-helpers.c
index c469beb061..2bec48e163 100644
--- a/util/vfio-helpers.c
+++ b/util/vfio-helpers.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "exec/ramlist.h"
 #include "exec/cpu-common.h"
+#include "exec/memory.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "standard-headers/linux/pci_regs.h"
@@ -494,8 +495,20 @@ QEMUVFIOState *qemu_vfio_open_pci(const char *device, Error **errp)
     int r;
     QEMUVFIOState *s = g_new0(QEMUVFIOState, 1);
 
+    /*
+     * VFIO may pin all memory inside mappings, resulting it in pinning
+     * all memory inside RAM blocks unconditionally.
+     */
+    r = ram_block_discard_disable(true);
+    if (r) {
+        error_setg_errno(errp, -r, "Cannot set discarding of RAM broken");
+        g_free(s);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     r = qemu_vfio_init_pci(s, device, errp);
     if (r) {
+        ram_block_discard_disable(false);
         g_free(s);
         return NULL;
     }
@@ -837,4 +850,5 @@ void qemu_vfio_close(QEMUVFIOState *s)
     close(s->device);
     close(s->group);
     close(s->container);
+    ram_block_discard_disable(false);
 }