diff --git a/src/conf/backup_conf.c b/src/conf/backup_conf.c
index 64c8f6cc09f8be874bf602748d0a5d4c6549c222..c5677cdb058b8d1438310dc8a8c86b57a9723d09 100644
--- a/src/conf/backup_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/backup_conf.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ virDomainBackupDefFree(virDomainBackupDefPtr def)
         return;
 
     g_free(def->incremental);
+    g_free(def->errmsg);
     virStorageNetHostDefFree(1, def->server);
 
     for (i = 0; i < def->ndisks; i++) {
diff --git a/src/conf/backup_conf.h b/src/conf/backup_conf.h
index 672fd52ee7541f15f574d7363343dcba79b8aa28..b5685317c56c2c9f1d04bd1d51eeb7971ec27654 100644
--- a/src/conf/backup_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/backup_conf.h
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ struct _virDomainBackupDef {
     unsigned long long push_total;
     unsigned long long pull_tmp_used;
     unsigned long long pull_tmp_total;
+
+    char *errmsg; /* error message of failed sub-blockjob */
 };
 
 typedef enum {
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
index 03d34c9378b2dcac347bc71f21ff67d9561d1907..80fc5d77f800dc5cad2c6ea0a158192980c534be 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.c
@@ -650,6 +650,7 @@ qemuBackupJobTerminate(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     priv->job.completed->stats.backup.tmp_total = priv->backup->pull_tmp_total;
 
     priv->job.completed->status = jobstatus;
+    priv->job.completed->errmsg = g_strdup(priv->backup->errmsg);
 
     qemuDomainEventEmitJobCompleted(priv->driver, vm);
 
@@ -951,6 +952,7 @@ void
 qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                             virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
                             qemuBlockjobState state,
+                            const char *errmsg,
                             unsigned long long cur,
                             unsigned long long end,
                             int asyncJob)
@@ -964,8 +966,8 @@ qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(virDomainObjPtr vm,
     virDomainBackupDefPtr backup = priv->backup;
     size_t i;
 
-    VIR_DEBUG("vm: '%s', disk:'%s', state:'%d'",
-              vm->def->name, disk->dst, state);
+    VIR_DEBUG("vm: '%s', disk:'%s', state:'%d' errmsg:'%s'",
+              vm->def->name, disk->dst, state, NULLSTR(errmsg));
 
     if (!backup)
         return;
@@ -985,6 +987,10 @@ qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(virDomainObjPtr vm,
         backup->push_total += end;
     }
 
+    /* record first error message */
+    if (!backup->errmsg)
+        backup->errmsg = g_strdup(errmsg);
+
     for (i = 0; i < backup->ndisks; i++) {
         virDomainBackupDiskDefPtr backupdisk = backup->disks + i;
 
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.h b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.h
index 3321ba0b6f25c291058dbb84e2fc617c980ccc23..b19c3bf1c9f6a8865a7f3d0f72a389103830b5dc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_backup.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_backup.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ void
 qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(virDomainObjPtr vm,
                             virDomainDiskDefPtr disk,
                             qemuBlockjobState state,
+                            const char *errmsg,
                             unsigned long long cur,
                             unsigned long long end,
                             int asyncJob);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
index 2032c0c1c5d78b9c1fa162556d7d5539d6a9855e..b9eecd3f982b7f3079c6741500d8acf45cf3bbf9 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_blockjob.c
@@ -1435,7 +1435,7 @@ qemuBlockJobProcessEventConcludedBackup(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
     g_autoptr(qemuBlockStorageSourceAttachData) backend = NULL;
     g_autoptr(virJSONValue) actions = NULL;
 
-    qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(vm, job->disk, newstate,
+    qemuBackupNotifyBlockjobEnd(vm, job->disk, newstate, job->errmsg,
                                 progressCurrent, progressTotal, asyncJob);
 
     if (job->data.backup.store &&
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
index 0378a833b911593a874d0e44aba0ee1d2c6b03ff..d63ec2313b6f8afb70fa6c25675b4cfa23a9a132 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_domain.c
@@ -836,6 +836,10 @@ qemuDomainBackupJobInfoToParams(qemuDomainJobInfoPtr jobInfo,
                                     VIR_DOMAIN_JOB_SUCCESS) < 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (jobInfo->errmsg &&
+        virTypedParamListAddString(par, jobInfo->errmsg, VIR_DOMAIN_JOB_ERRMSG) < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     *nparams = virTypedParamListStealParams(par, params);
     *type = qemuDomainJobStatusToType(jobInfo->status);
     return 0;