diff --git a/block/file-posix.c b/block/file-posix.c
index 2da3a76355..0c1b81ce4b 100644
--- a/block/file-posix.c
+++ b/block/file-posix.c
@@ -527,9 +527,22 @@ static int raw_open_common(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options,
 
     s->fd = -1;
     fd = qemu_open(filename, s->open_flags, 0644);
-    if (fd < 0) {
-        ret = -errno;
-        error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Could not open '%s'", filename);
+    ret = fd < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+
+    if (ret == -EACCES || ret == -EROFS) {
+        /* Try to degrade to read-only, but if it doesn't work, still use the
+         * normal error message. */
+        if (bdrv_apply_auto_read_only(bs, NULL, NULL) == 0) {
+            bdrv_flags &= ~BDRV_O_RDWR;
+            raw_parse_flags(bdrv_flags, &s->open_flags);
+            assert(!(s->open_flags & O_CREAT));
+            fd = qemu_open(filename, s->open_flags);
+            ret = fd < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open '%s'", filename);
         if (ret == -EROFS) {
             ret = -EACCES;
         }