diff --git a/po/POTFILES.in b/po/POTFILES.in
index 36d027a5c6..9a830691ea 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ src/util/viralloc.c
 src/util/viraudit.c
 src/util/virauth.c
 src/util/virauthconfig.c
+src/util/virbitmap.c
 src/util/vircgroup.c
 src/util/virclosecallbacks.c
 src/util/vircommand.c
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index ea49d2cda3..8a187a63d3 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -10981,11 +10981,8 @@ virDomainDefParseXML(xmlDocPtr xml,
         tmp = virXPathString("string(./vcpu[1]/@cpuset)", ctxt);
         if (tmp) {
             if (virBitmapParse(tmp, 0, &def->cpumask,
-                               VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN) < 0) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_XML_ERROR,
-                               "%s", _("topology cpuset syntax error"));
+                               VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN) < 0)
                 goto error;
-            }
             VIR_FREE(tmp);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/conf/network_conf.c b/src/conf/network_conf.c
index bbc980b693..8aef609830 100644
--- a/src/conf/network_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/network_conf.c
@@ -2897,9 +2897,6 @@ virNetworkLoadState(virNetworkObjListPtr nets,
         if ((class_id = virXPathString("string(./class_id[1]/@bitmap)", ctxt))) {
             if (virBitmapParse(class_id, 0, &class_id_map,
                                CLASS_ID_BITMAP_SIZE) < 0) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                               _("Malformed 'class_id' attribute: %s"),
-                               class_id);
                 VIR_FREE(class_id);
                 goto error;
             }
diff --git a/src/nodeinfo.c b/src/nodeinfo.c
index 4df48515bf..33a79b7ae9 100644
--- a/src/nodeinfo.c
+++ b/src/nodeinfo.c
@@ -1547,11 +1547,8 @@ virNodeGetSiblingsList(const char *dir, int cpu_id)
     if (virFileReadAll(path, SYSFS_THREAD_SIBLINGS_LIST_LENGTH_MAX, &buf) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
 
-    if (virBitmapParse(buf, 0, &ret, NUMA_MAX_N_CPUS) < 0) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                       _("Failed to parse thread siblings"));
+    if (virBitmapParse(buf, 0, &ret, NUMA_MAX_N_CPUS) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
-    }
 
 cleanup:
     VIR_FREE(buf);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 2ad236e0e1..5124f271ad 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -8357,8 +8357,6 @@ qemuDomainSetNumaParameters(virDomainPtr dom,
             if (virBitmapParse(params[i].value.s,
                                0, &nodeset,
                                VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN) < 0) {
-                virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                               _("Failed to parse nodeset"));
                 ret = -1;
                 continue;
             }
diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.c b/src/util/virbitmap.c
index 47c678ee0a..870c8fe814 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.c
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.c
@@ -298,23 +298,21 @@ virBitmapParse(const char *str,
                size_t bitmapSize)
 {
     bool neg = false;
-    const char *cur;
+    const char *cur = str;
     char *tmp;
     size_t i;
     int start, last;
 
-    if (!str)
+    if (!(*bitmap = virBitmapNew(bitmapSize)))
         return -1;
 
-    cur = str;
+    if (!str)
+        goto error;
+
     virSkipSpaces(&cur);
 
-    if (*cur == 0)
-        return -1;
-
-    *bitmap = virBitmapNew(bitmapSize);
-    if (!*bitmap)
-        return -1;
+    if (*cur == '\0')
+        goto error;
 
     while (*cur != 0 && *cur != terminator) {
         /*
@@ -384,6 +382,8 @@ virBitmapParse(const char *str,
     return virBitmapCountBits(*bitmap);
 
 error:
+    virReportError(VIR_ERR_INVALID_ARG,
+                   _("Failed to parse bitmap '%s'"), str);
     virBitmapFree(*bitmap);
     *bitmap = NULL;
     return -1;
diff --git a/src/xenxs/xen_sxpr.c b/src/xenxs/xen_sxpr.c
index fbbbaa9389..6209c683a6 100644
--- a/src/xenxs/xen_sxpr.c
+++ b/src/xenxs/xen_sxpr.c
@@ -1160,11 +1160,8 @@ xenParseSxpr(const struct sexpr *root,
 
     if (cpus != NULL) {
         if (virBitmapParse(cpus, 0, &def->cpumask,
-                           VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN) < 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("invalid CPU mask %s"), cpus);
+                           VIR_DOMAIN_CPUMASK_LEN) < 0)
             goto error;
-        }
     }
 
     def->maxvcpus = sexpr_int(root, "domain/vcpus");
diff --git a/tests/cpuset b/tests/cpuset
index b617d6fad9..35803be02c 100755
--- a/tests/cpuset
+++ b/tests/cpuset
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ sed "s/vcpu placement='static'>/vcpu cpuset='aaa'>/" xml > xml-invalid || fail=1
 $abs_top_builddir/tools/virsh --connect test:///default define xml-invalid > out 2>&1 && fail=1
 cat <<\EOF > exp || fail=1
 error: Failed to define domain from xml-invalid
-error: XML error: topology cpuset syntax error
+error: invalid argument: Failed to parse bitmap 'aaa'
 
 EOF
 compare exp out || fail=1