diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
index cff3e2a7ce7f..9f2d691908b4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
@@ -2844,12 +2844,14 @@ static void free_unused_bufs(struct virtnet_info *vi)
 		struct virtqueue *vq = vi->sq[i].vq;
 		while ((buf = virtqueue_detach_unused_buf(vq)) != NULL)
 			virtnet_sq_free_unused_buf(vq, buf);
+		cond_resched();
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < vi->max_queue_pairs; i++) {
 		struct virtqueue *vq = vi->rq[i].vq;
 		while ((buf = virtqueue_detach_unused_buf(vq)) != NULL)
 			virtnet_rq_free_unused_buf(vq, buf);
+		cond_resched();
 	}
 }