diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
index 6d0ba4c2fd..0fd7546974 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_text.c
@@ -2453,6 +2453,12 @@ int qemuMonitorTextAddDrive(qemuMonitorPtr mon,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
+    if (strstr(reply, "could not open disk image")) {
+        qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_OPERATION_FAILED, "%s",
+                        _("open disk image file failed"));
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     ret = 0;
 
 cleanup: