Index: new/hw/virtio-balloon.c
===================================================================
--- new.orig/hw/virtio-balloon.c	2012-12-12 14:05:56.000000000 +0100
+++ new/hw/virtio-balloon.c	2012-12-12 14:07:43.000000000 +0100
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@
 {
     VirtIOBalloon *s = opaque;
 
+    if (!balloon_stats_supported(s) || !runstate_is_running()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     virtqueue_push(s->svq, &s->stats_vq_elem, s->stats_vq_offset);
     virtio_notify(&s->vdev, s->svq);
 }
@@ -164,11 +168,6 @@
     VirtIOBalloon *s = opaque;
     int64_t value;
 
-    if (!balloon_stats_supported(s)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "guest doesn\'t support balloon stats");
-        return;
-    }
-
     visit_type_int(v, &value, name, errp);
     if (error_is_set(errp)) {
         return;