diff --git a/drivers/vfio/fsl-mc/vfio_fsl_mc_intr.c b/drivers/vfio/fsl-mc/vfio_fsl_mc_intr.c
index 77e584093a23..50c2f82f2b68 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/fsl-mc/vfio_fsl_mc_intr.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/fsl-mc/vfio_fsl_mc_intr.c
@@ -142,13 +142,14 @@ static int vfio_fsl_mc_set_irq_trigger(struct vfio_fsl_mc_device *vdev,
 	irq = &vdev->mc_irqs[index];
 
 	if (flags & VFIO_IRQ_SET_DATA_NONE) {
-		vfio_fsl_mc_irq_handler(hwirq, irq);
+		if (irq->trigger)
+			eventfd_signal(irq->trigger, 1);
 
 	} else if (flags & VFIO_IRQ_SET_DATA_BOOL) {
 		u8 trigger = *(u8 *)data;
 
-		if (trigger)
-			vfio_fsl_mc_irq_handler(hwirq, irq);
+		if (trigger && irq->trigger)
+			eventfd_signal(irq->trigger, 1);
 	}
 
 	return 0;