diff --git a/hw/vfio/migration.c b/hw/vfio/migration.c
index b4695030c7..4bd8e24699 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/migration.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/migration.c
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ static const char *mig_state_to_str(enum vfio_device_mig_state state)
 }
 
 static QapiVfioMigrationState
-mig_state_to_qapi_state(enum vfio_device_mig_state state)
+mig_state_to_qapi_state(enum vfio_device_mig_state state, bool prepare)
 {
     switch (state) {
     case VFIO_DEVICE_STATE_STOP:
@@ -84,15 +84,17 @@ mig_state_to_qapi_state(enum vfio_device_mig_state state)
     case VFIO_DEVICE_STATE_PRE_COPY:
         return QAPI_VFIO_MIGRATION_STATE_PRE_COPY;
     case VFIO_DEVICE_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P:
-        return QAPI_VFIO_MIGRATION_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P;
+        return prepare ? QAPI_VFIO_MIGRATION_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P_PREPARE :
+                         QAPI_VFIO_MIGRATION_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P;
     default:
         g_assert_not_reached();
     }
 }
 
-static void vfio_migration_send_event(VFIODevice *vbasedev)
+static void vfio_migration_send_event(VFIODevice *vbasedev,
+                                      enum vfio_device_mig_state state,
+                                      bool prepare)
 {
-    VFIOMigration *migration = vbasedev->migration;
     DeviceState *dev = vbasedev->dev;
     g_autofree char *qom_path = NULL;
     Object *obj;
@@ -106,8 +108,8 @@ static void vfio_migration_send_event(VFIODevice *vbasedev)
     g_assert(obj);
     qom_path = object_get_canonical_path(obj);
 
-    qapi_event_send_vfio_migration(
-        dev->id, qom_path, mig_state_to_qapi_state(migration->device_state));
+    qapi_event_send_vfio_migration(dev->id, qom_path,
+                                   mig_state_to_qapi_state(state, prepare));
 }
 
 static void vfio_migration_set_device_state(VFIODevice *vbasedev,
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ static void vfio_migration_set_device_state(VFIODevice *vbasedev,
                                           mig_state_to_str(state));
 
     migration->device_state = state;
-    vfio_migration_send_event(vbasedev);
+    vfio_migration_send_event(vbasedev, state, false);
 }
 
 int vfio_migration_set_state(VFIODevice *vbasedev,
@@ -146,6 +148,16 @@ int vfio_migration_set_state(VFIODevice *vbasedev,
         return 0;
     }
 
+    /*
+     * Send a prepare event before initiating the PRE_COPY_P2P transition to
+     * ensure timely event delivery regardless of how long the state transition
+     * takes.
+     */
+    if (new_state == VFIO_DEVICE_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P) {
+        vfio_migration_send_event(vbasedev, VFIO_DEVICE_STATE_PRE_COPY_P2P,
+                                  true);
+    }
+
     feature->argsz = sizeof(buf);
     feature->flags =
         VFIO_DEVICE_FEATURE_SET | VFIO_DEVICE_FEATURE_MIG_DEVICE_STATE;
diff --git a/qapi/vfio.json b/qapi/vfio.json
index a1a9c5b673..17b6046871 100644
--- a/qapi/vfio.json
+++ b/qapi/vfio.json
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@
 ##
 # @QapiVfioMigrationState:
 #
-# An enumeration of the VFIO device migration states.
+# An enumeration of the VFIO device migration states.  In addition to
+# the regular states, there are prepare states (with 'prepare' suffix)
+# which indicate that the device is just about to transition to the
+# corresponding state.  Note that seeing a prepare state for state X
+# doesn't guarantee that the next state will be X, as the state
+# transition can fail and the device may transition to a different
+# state instead.
 #
 # @stop: The device is stopped.
 #
@@ -32,11 +38,14 @@
 #     tracking its internal state and its internal state is available
 #     for reading.
 #
+# @pre-copy-p2p-prepare: The device is just about to move to
+#     pre-copy-p2p state.  (since 11.0)
+#
 # Since: 9.1
 ##
 { 'enum': 'QapiVfioMigrationState',
   'data': [ 'stop', 'running', 'stop-copy', 'resuming', 'running-p2p',
-            'pre-copy', 'pre-copy-p2p' ] }
+            'pre-copy', 'pre-copy-p2p', 'pre-copy-p2p-prepare' ] }
 
 ##
 # @VFIO_MIGRATION: