diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
index 69df40760ae2a482c8a1ea8fbb8c1de271aced6c..82f7a9b9cb9422e18a0048b659754b9a945abcbd 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
@@ -2123,9 +2123,11 @@ int qemuMonitorTextAddDevice(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (STRNEQ(reply, "")) {
+    /* If the command failed qemu prints:
+     * Could not add ... */
+    if (strstr(reply, "Could not add ")) {
         qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED,
-                        _("adding %s device failed: %s"), devicestr, reply);
+                        _("adding %s device failed"), devicestr);
         goto cleanup;
     }