diff --git a/vmm/src/memory_manager.rs b/vmm/src/memory_manager.rs
index 89ea38d8f..2a7ecd2d5 100644
--- a/vmm/src/memory_manager.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/memory_manager.rs
@@ -671,7 +671,11 @@ impl MemoryManager {
             for zone_config in zones_config {
                 if guest_ram_mapping.zone_id == zone_config.id {
                     let region = MemoryManager::create_ram_region(
-                        &zone_config.file,
+                        if guest_ram_mapping.virtio_mem {
+                            &None
+                        } else {
+                            &zone_config.file
+                        },
                         guest_ram_mapping.file_offset,
                         GuestAddress(guest_ram_mapping.gpa),
                         guest_ram_mapping.size as usize,