diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 945c1f4a3704e36114a8e342cec719896ccaf4fa..fe937117f8937705c14428ab4228d49b40370abb 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -2515,12 +2515,8 @@ virDomainChrDefParseTargetXML(virCapsPtr caps,
                 goto error;
             }
 
-            if (virSocketParseAddr(addrStr, def->target.addr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
-                virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                                     _("%s is not a valid address"),
-                                     addrStr);
+            if (virSocketParseAddr(addrStr, def->target.addr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0)
                 goto error;
-            }
 
             if (def->target.addr->data.stor.ss_family != AF_INET) {
                 virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index f209dad7ab0aa824cdffe978dd6bc95478e052ba..fe52f95a86e939535ce04a4c484c1a57bf9dec6e 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -244,22 +244,14 @@ virNetworkDHCPRangeDefParseXML(virNetworkDefPtr def,
             }
 
             if (virSocketParseAddr(start, &saddr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
-                virNetworkReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                                      _("cannot parse dhcp start address '%s'"),
-                                      start);
                 xmlFree(start);
                 xmlFree(end);
-                cur = cur->next;
-                continue;
+                return -1;
             }
             if (virSocketParseAddr(end, &eaddr, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
-                virNetworkReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                                      _("cannot parse dhcp end address '%s'"),
-                                      end);
                 xmlFree(start);
                 xmlFree(end);
-                cur = cur->next;
-                continue;
+                return -1;
             }
 
             range = virSocketGetRange(&saddr, &eaddr);
@@ -269,8 +261,7 @@ virNetworkDHCPRangeDefParseXML(virNetworkDefPtr def,
                                       start, end);
                 xmlFree(start);
                 xmlFree(end);
-                cur = cur->next;
-                continue;
+                return -1;
             }
 
             if (VIR_REALLOC_N(def->ranges, def->nranges + 1) < 0) {
diff --git a/src/network/bridge_driver.c b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
index ac91c576effe84442466f650b8fdcc2f26552407..37ed32e701a5e0e7e3db495949755626e092eee0 100644
--- a/src/network/bridge_driver.c
+++ b/src/network/bridge_driver.c
@@ -1046,19 +1046,11 @@ static int networkCheckRouteCollision(virNetworkObjPtr network)
     if (!network->def->ipAddress || !network->def->netmask)
         return 0;
 
-    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->ipAddress, &inaddress, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
-        networkReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("cannot parse IP address '%s'"),
-                           network->def->ipAddress);
+    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->ipAddress, &inaddress, AF_UNSPEC) < 0)
         goto error;
-    }
 
-    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->netmask, &innetmask, AF_UNSPEC) < 0) {
-        networkReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("cannot parse netmask '%s'"),
-                           network->def->netmask);
+    if (virSocketParseAddr(network->def->netmask, &innetmask, AF_UNSPEC) < 0)
         goto error;
-    }
 
     if (inaddress.data.stor.ss_family != AF_INET ||
         innetmask.data.stor.ss_family != AF_INET) {
diff --git a/src/util/network.c b/src/util/network.c
index 0c7cb633561c5283d4840caf3891294a6d5b3564..81ac22805db20a8a26ad92492fc43d3ae59eb139 100644
--- a/src/util/network.c
+++ b/src/util/network.c
@@ -77,15 +77,28 @@ virSocketParseAddr(const char *val, virSocketAddrPtr addr, int family) {
     int len;
     struct addrinfo hints;
     struct addrinfo *res = NULL;
+    int err;
 
-    if (val == NULL)
-        return(-1);
+    if (val == NULL) {
+        virSocketError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG, _("Missing address"));
+        return -1;
+    }
 
     memset(&hints, 0, sizeof(hints));
     hints.ai_family = family;
     hints.ai_flags = AI_NUMERICHOST;
-    if ((getaddrinfo(val, NULL, &hints, &res) != 0) || (res ==  NULL)) {
-        return(-1);
+    if ((err = getaddrinfo(val, NULL, &hints, &res)) != 0) {
+        virSocketError(VIR_ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR,
+                       _("Cannot parse socket address '%s': %s"),
+                       val, gai_strerror(err));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (res == NULL) {
+        virSocketError(VIR_ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR,
+                       _("No socket addresses found for '%s'"),
+                       val);
+        return -1;
     }
 
     len = res->ai_addrlen;