diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_ethdev.c
index cb2b2e0bf..249b536fd 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_ethdev.c
@@ -1448,6 +1448,9 @@ virtio_configure_intr(struct rte_eth_dev *dev)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+#define IFCVF_SUBSYS_VENDOR_ID	0x8086
+#define IFCVF_SUBSYS_DEVICE_ID	0x001A
+
 /* reset device and renegotiate features if needed */
 static int
 virtio_init_device(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev, uint64_t req_features)
@@ -1477,6 +1480,12 @@ virtio_init_device(struct rte_eth_dev *eth_dev, uint64_t req_features)
 	if (!hw->virtio_user_dev) {
 		pci_dev = RTE_ETH_DEV_TO_PCI(eth_dev);
 		rte_eth_copy_pci_info(eth_dev, pci_dev);
+
+		if (pci_dev->id.subsystem_vendor_id == IFCVF_SUBSYS_VENDOR_ID &&
+		    pci_dev->id.subsystem_device_id == IFCVF_SUBSYS_DEVICE_ID)
+			hw->weak_barriers = 0;
+		else
+			hw->weak_barriers = 1;
 	}
 
 	/* If host does not support both status and MSI-X then disable LSC */
diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_pci.h b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_pci.h
index e961a58ca..1f8e719a9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_pci.h
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_pci.h
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ struct virtio_hw {
 	uint8_t     use_simple_rx;
 	uint8_t     use_inorder_rx;
 	uint8_t     use_inorder_tx;
+	uint8_t     weak_barriers;
 	bool        has_tx_offload;
 	bool        has_rx_offload;
 	uint16_t    port_id;
diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_rxtx.c b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_rxtx.c
index cb8f89f18..66195bf47 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_rxtx.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_rxtx.c
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ virtio_recv_pkts(void *rx_queue, struct rte_mbuf **rx_pkts, uint16_t nb_pkts)
 
 	nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
 
-	virtio_rmb();
+	virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 
 	num = likely(nb_used <= nb_pkts) ? nb_used : nb_pkts;
 	if (unlikely(num > VIRTIO_MBUF_BURST_SZ))
@@ -1017,7 +1017,7 @@ virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts_inorder(void *rx_queue,
 	nb_used = RTE_MIN(nb_used, nb_pkts);
 	nb_used = RTE_MIN(nb_used, VIRTIO_MBUF_BURST_SZ);
 
-	virtio_rmb();
+	virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 
 	PMD_RX_LOG(DEBUG, "used:%d", nb_used);
 
@@ -1202,7 +1202,7 @@ virtio_recv_mergeable_pkts(void *rx_queue,
 
 	nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
 
-	virtio_rmb();
+	virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 
 	PMD_RX_LOG(DEBUG, "used:%d", nb_used);
 
@@ -1365,7 +1365,7 @@ virtio_xmit_pkts(void *tx_queue, struct rte_mbuf **tx_pkts, uint16_t nb_pkts)
 	PMD_TX_LOG(DEBUG, "%d packets to xmit", nb_pkts);
 	nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
 
-	virtio_rmb();
+	virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 	if (likely(nb_used > vq->vq_nentries - vq->vq_free_thresh))
 		virtio_xmit_cleanup(vq, nb_used);
 
@@ -1407,7 +1407,7 @@ virtio_xmit_pkts(void *tx_queue, struct rte_mbuf **tx_pkts, uint16_t nb_pkts)
 		/* Positive value indicates it need free vring descriptors */
 		if (unlikely(need > 0)) {
 			nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
-			virtio_rmb();
+			virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 			need = RTE_MIN(need, (int)nb_used);
 
 			virtio_xmit_cleanup(vq, need);
@@ -1463,7 +1463,7 @@ virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder(void *tx_queue,
 	PMD_TX_LOG(DEBUG, "%d packets to xmit", nb_pkts);
 	nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
 
-	virtio_rmb();
+	virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 	if (likely(nb_used > vq->vq_nentries - vq->vq_free_thresh))
 		virtio_xmit_cleanup_inorder(vq, nb_used);
 
@@ -1511,7 +1511,7 @@ virtio_xmit_pkts_inorder(void *tx_queue,
 		need = slots - vq->vq_free_cnt;
 		if (unlikely(need > 0)) {
 			nb_used = VIRTQUEUE_NUSED(vq);
-			virtio_rmb();
+			virtio_rmb(hw->weak_barriers);
 			need = RTE_MIN(need, (int)nb_used);
 
 			virtio_xmit_cleanup_inorder(vq, need);
diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user_ethdev.c b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user_ethdev.c
index f8791391a..f075774b4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user_ethdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtio_user_ethdev.c
@@ -434,6 +434,7 @@ virtio_user_eth_dev_alloc(struct rte_vdev_device *vdev)
 	hw->use_simple_rx = 0;
 	hw->use_inorder_rx = 0;
 	hw->use_inorder_tx = 0;
+	hw->weak_barriers = 1;
 	hw->virtio_user_dev = dev;
 	return eth_dev;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio/virtqueue.h b/drivers/net/virtio/virtqueue.h
index 26518ed98..7bf17d3bf 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio/virtqueue.h
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio/virtqueue.h
@@ -19,15 +19,40 @@
 struct rte_mbuf;
 
 /*
- * Per virtio_config.h in Linux.
+ * Per virtio_ring.h in Linux.
  *     For virtio_pci on SMP, we don't need to order with respect to MMIO
  *     accesses through relaxed memory I/O windows, so smp_mb() et al are
  *     sufficient.
  *
+ *     For using virtio to talk to real devices (eg. vDPA) we do need real
+ *     barriers.
  */
-#define virtio_mb()	rte_smp_mb()
-#define virtio_rmb()	rte_smp_rmb()
-#define virtio_wmb()	rte_smp_wmb()
+static inline void
+virtio_mb(uint8_t weak_barriers)
+{
+	if (weak_barriers)
+		rte_smp_mb();
+	else
+		rte_mb();
+}
+
+static inline void
+virtio_rmb(uint8_t weak_barriers)
+{
+	if (weak_barriers)
+		rte_smp_rmb();
+	else
+		rte_cio_rmb();
+}
+
+static inline void
+virtio_wmb(uint8_t weak_barriers)
+{
+	if (weak_barriers)
+		rte_smp_wmb();
+	else
+		rte_cio_wmb();
+}
 
 #ifdef RTE_PMD_PACKET_PREFETCH
 #define rte_packet_prefetch(p)  rte_prefetch1(p)
@@ -312,7 +337,7 @@ void vq_ring_free_inorder(struct virtqueue *vq, uint16_t desc_idx,
 static inline void
 vq_update_avail_idx(struct virtqueue *vq)
 {
-	virtio_wmb();
+	virtio_wmb(vq->hw->weak_barriers);
 	vq->vq_ring.avail->idx = vq->vq_avail_idx;
 }
 
