diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index a15364a71ed6deae16d3b9b0aeb038f630c558c1..6f53e17b6a375da59a1741be608a57f359b629e0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -4687,8 +4687,12 @@ qemuDomainDefPostParseBasic(virDomainDefPtr def,
     /* check for emulator and create a default one if needed */
     if (!def->emulator) {
         if (!(def->emulator = virQEMUCapsGetDefaultEmulator(
-                  driver->hostarch, def->os.arch)))
+                  driver->hostarch, def->os.arch))) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                           _("No emulator found for arch '%s'"),
+                           virArchToString(def->os.arch));
             return 1;
+        }
     }
 
     return 0;