diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 6362d3077c..6a2c3d9567 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -412,10 +412,14 @@ void qemu_del_nic(NICState *nic)
 
     qemu_macaddr_set_free(&nic->conf->macaddr);
 
-    /* If this is a peer NIC and peer has already been deleted, free it now. */
-    if (nic->peer_deleted) {
-        for (i = 0; i < queues; i++) {
-            qemu_free_net_client(qemu_get_subqueue(nic, i)->peer);
+    for (i = 0; i < queues; i++) {
+        NetClientState *nc = qemu_get_subqueue(nic, i);
+        /* If this is a peer NIC and peer has already been deleted, free it now. */
+        if (nic->peer_deleted) {
+            qemu_free_net_client(nc->peer);
+        } else if (nc->peer) {
+            /* if there are RX packets pending, complete them */
+            qemu_purge_queued_packets(nc->peer);
         }
     }