diff --git a/sys/dev/xen/balloon/balloon.c b/sys/dev/xen/balloon/balloon.c
index f31c72ba9d4c..d4f94ab9ee00 100644
--- a/sys/dev/xen/balloon/balloon.c
+++ b/sys/dev/xen/balloon/balloon.c
@@ -436,6 +436,9 @@ balloon_init_watcher(void *arg)
 {
 	int err;
 
+	if (!is_running_on_xen())
+		return;
+
 	err = xs_register_watch(&target_watch);
 	if (err)
 		printf("Failed to set balloon watcher\n");