diff --git a/qdev-monitor.c b/qdev-monitor.c
index 177b849abbf05de1e62e6a1cf65b089cd6ba69d8..ef63cbd7bbb04dc8658f859e4a0f4c267898dca4 100644
--- a/qdev-monitor.c
+++ b/qdev-monitor.c
@@ -479,7 +479,8 @@ DeviceState *qdev_device_add(QemuOpts *opts)
     }
 
     if (!object_class_dynamic_cast(oc, TYPE_DEVICE)) {
-        qerror_report(QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "driver", "device type");
+        qerror_report(ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                      "'%s' is not a valid device model name", driver);
         return NULL;
     }