diff --git a/hw/vfio/pci.c b/hw/vfio/pci.c
index 84e27c7bb2..18c493b49e 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/pci.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/pci.c
@@ -3160,7 +3160,7 @@ static Property vfio_pci_dev_properties[] = {
     DEFINE_PROP_PCI_HOST_DEVADDR("host", VFIOPCIDevice, host),
     DEFINE_PROP_STRING("sysfsdev", VFIOPCIDevice, vbasedev.sysfsdev),
     DEFINE_PROP_ON_OFF_AUTO("display", VFIOPCIDevice,
-                            display, ON_OFF_AUTO_AUTO),
+                            display, ON_OFF_AUTO_OFF),
     DEFINE_PROP_UINT32("x-intx-mmap-timeout-ms", VFIOPCIDevice,
                        intx.mmap_timeout, 1100),
     DEFINE_PROP_BIT("x-vga", VFIOPCIDevice, features,