diff --git a/src/esx/esx_vi.c b/src/esx/esx_vi.c
index 0bdfc5a8bec6175a70bf7a5429a59bcf418fc71e..25fbdc7e4434c1a218d6edaec3c8763113cd92a7 100644
--- a/src/esx/esx_vi.c
+++ b/src/esx/esx_vi.c
@@ -3014,8 +3014,11 @@ esxVI_LookupVirtualMachineByName(esxVI_Context *ctx, const char *name,
         break;
     }
 
-    if (!(*virtualMachine) && occurrence != esxVI_Occurrence_OptionalItem)
+    if (!(*virtualMachine) && occurrence != esxVI_Occurrence_OptionalItem) {
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_NO_DOMAIN,
+                       _("Could not find domain with name '%s'"), name);
         goto cleanup;
+    }
 
     result = 0;