diff --git a/include/spdk_internal/virtio.h b/include/spdk_internal/virtio.h
index 0414723195..7ccfb2f25f 100644
--- a/include/spdk_internal/virtio.h
+++ b/include/spdk_internal/virtio.h
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ struct virtqueue {
 
 	uint16_t req_start;
 	uint16_t req_end;
+	uint16_t reqs_finished;
 
 	struct vq_desc_extra vq_descx[0];
 };
diff --git a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_blk.c b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_blk.c
index 30e1570b89..1b24e6bb76 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_blk.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_blk.c
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ struct bdev_virtio_blk_io_channel {
 	(1ULL << VIRTIO_BLK_F_BLK_SIZE		|	\
 	 1ULL << VIRTIO_BLK_F_TOPOLOGY		|	\
 	 1ULL << VIRTIO_BLK_F_MQ		|	\
-	 1ULL << VIRTIO_BLK_F_RO)
+	 1ULL << VIRTIO_BLK_F_RO		|	\
+	 1ULL << VIRTIO_RING_F_EVENT_IDX)
 
 static int bdev_virtio_initialize(void);
 static int bdev_virtio_blk_get_ctx_size(void);
diff --git a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_scsi.c b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_scsi.c
index cbb1853db9..66c5b8a900 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_scsi.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/virtio/bdev_virtio_scsi.c
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ static bool g_bdev_virtio_finish = false;
 /* Features desired/implemented by this driver. */
 #define VIRTIO_SCSI_DEV_SUPPORTED_FEATURES		\
 	(1ULL << VIRTIO_SCSI_F_INOUT		|	\
-	 1ULL << VIRTIO_SCSI_F_HOTPLUG)
+	 1ULL << VIRTIO_SCSI_F_HOTPLUG		|	\
+	 1ULL << VIRTIO_RING_F_EVENT_IDX)
 
 static void virtio_scsi_dev_unregister_cb(void *io_device);
 static void virtio_scsi_dev_remove(struct virtio_scsi_dev *svdev,
diff --git a/lib/virtio/virtio.c b/lib/virtio/virtio.c
index 60e2a018ad..4276f87bdd 100644
--- a/lib/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/lib/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -96,12 +96,21 @@ virtio_init_vring(struct virtqueue *vq)
 	vq->vq_free_cnt = vq->vq_nentries;
 	vq->req_start = VQ_RING_DESC_CHAIN_END;
 	vq->req_end = VQ_RING_DESC_CHAIN_END;
+	vq->reqs_finished = 0;
 	memset(vq->vq_descx, 0, sizeof(struct vq_desc_extra) * vq->vq_nentries);
 
 	vring_desc_init(vr->desc, size);
 
-	/* Tell the backend not to interrupt us. */
-	vq->vq_ring.avail->flags |= VRING_AVAIL_F_NO_INTERRUPT;
+	/* Tell the backend not to interrupt us.
+	 * If F_EVENT_IDX is negotiated, we will always set incredibly high
+	 * used event idx, so that we will practically never receive an
+	 * interrupt. See virtqueue_req_flush()
+	 */
+	if (vq->vdev->negotiated_features & (1ULL << VIRTIO_RING_F_EVENT_IDX)) {
+		vring_used_event(&vq->vq_ring) = UINT16_MAX;
+	} else {
+		vq->vq_ring.avail->flags |= VRING_AVAIL_F_NO_INTERRUPT;
+	}
 }
 
 static int
@@ -437,6 +446,7 @@ finish_req(struct virtqueue *vq)
 	vq->req_end = VQ_RING_DESC_CHAIN_END;
 	virtio_wmb();
 	vq->vq_ring.avail->idx = vq->vq_avail_idx;
+	vq->reqs_finished++;
 }
 
 int
@@ -463,6 +473,8 @@ virtqueue_req_start(struct virtqueue *vq, void *cookie, int iovcnt)
 void
 virtqueue_req_flush(struct virtqueue *vq)
 {
+	uint16_t reqs_finished;
+
 	if (vq->req_end == VQ_RING_DESC_CHAIN_END) {
 		/* no non-empty requests have been started */
 		return;
@@ -471,10 +483,26 @@ virtqueue_req_flush(struct virtqueue *vq)
 	finish_req(vq);
 	virtio_mb();
 
-	if (spdk_unlikely(!(vq->vq_ring.used->flags & VRING_USED_F_NO_NOTIFY))) {
-		virtio_dev_backend_ops(vq->vdev)->notify_queue(vq->vdev, vq);
-		SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_VIRTIO_DEV, "Notified backend after xmit\n");
+	reqs_finished = vq->reqs_finished;
+	vq->reqs_finished = 0;
+
+	if (vq->vdev->negotiated_features & (1ULL << VIRTIO_RING_F_EVENT_IDX)) {
+		/* Set used event idx to a value the device will never reach.
+		 * This effectively disables interrupts.
+		 */
+		vring_used_event(&vq->vq_ring) = vq->vq_used_cons_idx - vq->vq_nentries - 1;
+
+		if (!vring_need_event(vring_avail_event(&vq->vq_ring),
+				      vq->vq_avail_idx,
+				      vq->vq_avail_idx - reqs_finished)) {
+			return;
+		}
+	} else if (vq->vq_ring.used->flags & VRING_USED_F_NO_NOTIFY) {
+		return;
 	}
+
+	virtio_dev_backend_ops(vq->vdev)->notify_queue(vq->vdev, vq);
+	SPDK_DEBUGLOG(SPDK_LOG_VIRTIO_DEV, "Notified backend after xmit\n");
 }
 
 void