diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_renderer_virtgpu.c b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_renderer_virtgpu.c
index df231a1aaef..5aaae2a8911 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_renderer_virtgpu.c
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_renderer_virtgpu.c
@@ -1111,10 +1111,15 @@ virtgpu_bo_destroy(struct vn_renderer *renderer, struct vn_renderer_bo *_bo)
 
    if (bo->base.mmap_ptr)
       munmap(bo->base.mmap_ptr, bo->base.mmap_size);
-   virtgpu_ioctl_gem_close(gpu, bo->gem_handle);
 
-   /* set gem_handle to 0 to indicate that the bo is invalid */
+   /* Set gem_handle to 0 to indicate that the bo is invalid. Must be set
+    * before closing gem handle. Otherwise the same gem handle can be reused
+    * by another newly created bo and unexpectedly gotten zero'ed out the
+    * tracked gem handle.
+    */
+   const uint32_t gem_handle = bo->gem_handle;
    bo->gem_handle = 0;
+   virtgpu_ioctl_gem_close(gpu, gem_handle);
 
    mtx_unlock(&gpu->dma_buf_import_mutex);