diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.c b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.c
index 99cb5e317a5..233667d847d 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.c
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.c
@@ -206,7 +206,9 @@ vn_image_init_deferred(struct vn_device *dev,
                        const VkImageCreateInfo *create_info,
                        struct vn_image *img)
 {
-   return vn_image_init(dev, create_info, img);
+   VkResult result = vn_image_init(dev, create_info, img);
+   img->deferred_info->initialized = result == VK_SUCCESS;
+   return result;
 }
 
 VkResult
@@ -313,7 +315,9 @@ vn_DestroyImage(VkDevice device,
       vn_FreeMemory(device, mem_handle, pAllocator);
    }
 
-   vn_async_vkDestroyImage(dev->instance, device, image, NULL);
+   /* must not ask renderer to destroy uninitialized deferred image */
+   if (!img->deferred_info || img->deferred_info->initialized)
+      vn_async_vkDestroyImage(dev->instance, device, image, NULL);
 
    if (img->deferred_info)
       vk_free(alloc, img->deferred_info);
diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.h b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.h
index c68114996bd..935272dc53a 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.h
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_image.h
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ struct vn_image_create_deferred_info {
    VkImageCreateInfo create;
    VkImageFormatListCreateInfo list;
    VkImageStencilUsageCreateInfo stencil;
+
+   /* track whether vn_image_init_deferred succeeds */
+   bool initialized;
 };
 
 struct vn_image {