diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
index bc832187e7d1c1dfabcbf7f3f4ab3ae2f1bc026a..9c9eeea01dff3442cdadc89373661cb2e1be5799 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
@@ -1959,6 +1959,16 @@ int qemuMonitorTextAddDrive(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    if (strstr(reply, "Could not open")) {
+        size_t len = strlen(reply);
+        if (reply[len - 1] == '\n')
+            reply[len - 1] = '\0';
+
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED, "%s",
+                       reply);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup: