diff --git a/virtio-devices/src/device.rs b/virtio-devices/src/device.rs
index fd52032a3..b70092f89 100644
--- a/virtio-devices/src/device.rs
+++ b/virtio-devices/src/device.rs
@@ -282,7 +282,6 @@ impl VirtioCommon {
     }
 
     // Wait for the worker thread to finish and return
-    #[cfg(fuzzing)]
     pub fn wait_for_epoll_threads(&mut self) {
         if let Some(mut threads) = self.epoll_threads.take() {
             for t in threads.drain(..) {
diff --git a/virtio-devices/src/net.rs b/virtio-devices/src/net.rs
index f43bfae7c..7ce6e0d85 100644
--- a/virtio-devices/src/net.rs
+++ b/virtio-devices/src/net.rs
@@ -631,6 +631,8 @@ impl Drop for Net {
             // Ignore the result because there is nothing we can do about it.
             let _ = kill_evt.write(1);
         }
+        // Needed to ensure all references to tap FDs are dropped (#4868)
+        self.common.wait_for_epoll_threads();
     }
 }