diff --git a/include/linux/kvm_host.h b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
index c80fe03a1fa4..eaa70e9b1218 100644
--- a/include/linux/kvm_host.h
+++ b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
@@ -2094,6 +2094,7 @@ int kvm_set_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm,
 			const struct kvm_irq_routing_entry *entries,
 			unsigned nr,
 			unsigned flags);
+int kvm_init_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm);
 int kvm_set_routing_entry(struct kvm *kvm,
 			  struct kvm_kernel_irq_routing_entry *e,
 			  const struct kvm_irq_routing_entry *ue);
@@ -2103,6 +2104,11 @@ void kvm_free_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm);
 
 static inline void kvm_free_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm) {}
 
+static inline int kvm_init_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
 #endif
 
 int kvm_send_userspace_msi(struct kvm *kvm, struct kvm_msi *msi);
diff --git a/virt/kvm/irqchip.c b/virt/kvm/irqchip.c
index 1e567d1f6d3d..162d8ed889f2 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/irqchip.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/irqchip.c
@@ -237,3 +237,27 @@ out:
 
 	return r;
 }
+
+/*
+ * Allocate empty IRQ routing by default so that additional setup isn't needed
+ * when userspace-driven IRQ routing is activated, and so that kvm->irq_routing
+ * is guaranteed to be non-NULL.
+ */
+int kvm_init_irq_routing(struct kvm *kvm)
+{
+	struct kvm_irq_routing_table *new;
+	int chip_size;
+
+	new = kzalloc(struct_size(new, map, 1), GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT);
+	if (!new)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	new->nr_rt_entries = 1;
+
+	chip_size = sizeof(int) * KVM_NR_IRQCHIPS * KVM_IRQCHIP_NUM_PINS;
+	memset(new->chip, -1, chip_size);
+
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(kvm->irq_routing, new);
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
index f4f5a435b225..7bf1ef0fc10b 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
@@ -1186,7 +1186,12 @@ static struct kvm *kvm_create_vm(unsigned long type, const char *fdname)
 	if (init_srcu_struct(&kvm->irq_srcu))
 		goto out_err_no_irq_srcu;
 
+	r = kvm_init_irq_routing(kvm);
+	if (r)
+		goto out_err_no_irq_routing;
+
 	refcount_set(&kvm->users_count, 1);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < kvm_arch_nr_memslot_as_ids(kvm); i++) {
 		for (j = 0; j < 2; j++) {
 			slots = &kvm->__memslots[i][j];
@@ -1265,6 +1270,8 @@ out_err_no_arch_destroy_vm:
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(!refcount_dec_and_test(&kvm->users_count));
 	for (i = 0; i < KVM_NR_BUSES; i++)
 		kfree(kvm_get_bus(kvm, i));
+	kvm_free_irq_routing(kvm);
+out_err_no_irq_routing:
 	cleanup_srcu_struct(&kvm->irq_srcu);
 out_err_no_irq_srcu:
 	cleanup_srcu_struct(&kvm->srcu);