diff --git a/src/arch/armv8/aborts.c b/src/arch/armv8/aborts.c
index 2bf440c2..85739696 100644
--- a/src/arch/armv8/aborts.c
+++ b/src/arch/armv8/aborts.c
@@ -195,6 +195,9 @@ void aborts_sync_handler(void)
     abort_handler_t handler = abort_handlers[ec];
     if (handler) {
         handler(iss, ipa_fault_addr, il, ec);
+        if (cpu()->vcpu->active == false) {
+            cpu_idle();
+        }
     } else {
         ERROR("no handler for abort ec = 0x%x", ec); // unknown guest exception
     }
diff --git a/src/arch/riscv/sync_exceptions.c b/src/arch/riscv/sync_exceptions.c
index d685f349..36d8a60f 100644
--- a/src/arch/riscv/sync_exceptions.c
+++ b/src/arch/riscv/sync_exceptions.c
@@ -153,4 +153,7 @@ void sync_exception_handler(void)
     }
 
     vcpu_writepc(cpu()->vcpu, vcpu_readpc(cpu()->vcpu) + pc_step);
+    if (cpu()->vcpu->active == false) {
+        cpu_idle();
+    }
 }