diff --git a/backends/rng-random.c b/backends/rng-random.c
index 830360c780..68dfc8a9c6 100644
--- a/backends/rng-random.c
+++ b/backends/rng-random.c
@@ -78,9 +78,8 @@ static void rng_random_opened(RngBackend *b, Error **errp)
                   "filename", "a valid filename");
     } else {
         s->fd = qemu_open(s->filename, O_RDONLY | O_NONBLOCK);
-
         if (s->fd == -1) {
-            error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, s->filename);
+            error_setg_file_open(errp, errno, s->filename);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 79ad33d0f9..b88ad2fa04 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1291,8 +1291,8 @@ int bdrv_reopen_prepare(BDRVReopenState *reopen_state, BlockReopenQueue *queue,
             if (local_err != NULL) {
                 error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             } else {
-                error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED,
-                          reopen_state->bs->filename);
+                error_setg(errp, "failed while preparing to reopen image '%s'",
+                           reopen_state->bs->filename);
             }
             goto error;
         }
diff --git a/block/mirror.c b/block/mirror.c
index 8b07dec314..1ae724f705 100644
--- a/block/mirror.c
+++ b/block/mirror.c
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ static void mirror_complete(BlockJob *job, Error **errp)
         char backing_filename[PATH_MAX];
         bdrv_get_full_backing_filename(s->target, backing_filename,
                                        sizeof(backing_filename));
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, backing_filename);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, -ret, backing_filename);
         return;
     }
     if (!s->synced) {
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 9937311aac..5975dde5d0 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ static void external_snapshot_prepare(BlkTransactionStates *common,
     ret = bdrv_open(states->new_bs, new_image_file, NULL,
                     flags | BDRV_O_NO_BACKING, drv);
     if (ret != 0) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, new_image_file);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, -ret, new_image_file);
     }
 }
 
@@ -1062,8 +1062,11 @@ static void qmp_bdrv_open_encrypted(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *filename,
                                     int bdrv_flags, BlockDriver *drv,
                                     const char *password, Error **errp)
 {
-    if (bdrv_open(bs, filename, NULL, bdrv_flags, drv) < 0) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, filename);
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = bdrv_open(bs, filename, NULL, bdrv_flags, drv);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, -ret, filename);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1483,7 +1486,7 @@ void qmp_drive_mirror(const char *device, const char *target,
 
     if (ret < 0) {
         bdrv_delete(target_bs);
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, target);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, -ret, target);
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/cpus.c b/cpus.c
index c232265cd2..c8bc8ad8b5 100644
--- a/cpus.c
+++ b/cpus.c
@@ -1278,7 +1278,7 @@ void qmp_memsave(int64_t addr, int64_t size, const char *filename,
 
     f = fopen(filename, "wb");
     if (!f) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, filename);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, errno, filename);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -1308,7 +1308,7 @@ void qmp_pmemsave(int64_t addr, int64_t size, const char *filename,
 
     f = fopen(filename, "wb");
     if (!f) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, filename);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, errno, filename);
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/dump.c b/dump.c
index 44a1339c8a..c812cfaf2d 100644
--- a/dump.c
+++ b/dump.c
@@ -853,7 +853,7 @@ void qmp_dump_guest_memory(bool paging, const char *file, bool has_begin,
     if  (strstart(file, "file:", &p)) {
         fd = qemu_open(p, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_BINARY, S_IRUSR);
         if (fd < 0) {
-            error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, p);
+            error_setg_file_open(errp, errno, p);
             return;
         }
     }
diff --git a/include/qapi/error.h b/include/qapi/error.h
index 5cd2f0c302..ffd1cea477 100644
--- a/include/qapi/error.h
+++ b/include/qapi/error.h
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ void error_set_errno(Error **err, int os_error, ErrorClass err_class, const char
 #define error_setg_errno(err, os_error, fmt, ...) \
     error_set_errno(err, os_error, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR, fmt, ## __VA_ARGS__)
 
+/**
+ * Helper for open() errors
+ */
+void error_setg_file_open(Error **errp, int os_errno, const char *filename);
+
 /**
  * Returns true if an indirect pointer to an error is pointing to a valid
  * error object.
diff --git a/include/qapi/qmp/qerror.h b/include/qapi/qmp/qerror.h
index 6c0a18dfc4..c30c2f6d7a 100644
--- a/include/qapi/qmp/qerror.h
+++ b/include/qapi/qmp/qerror.h
@@ -177,9 +177,6 @@ void assert_no_error(Error *err);
 #define QERR_NOT_SUPPORTED \
     ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR, "Not supported"
 
-#define QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED \
-    ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR, "Could not open '%s'"
-
 #define QERR_PERMISSION_DENIED \
     ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR, "Insufficient permission to perform this operation"
 
diff --git a/savevm.c b/savevm.c
index 2ce439f7f4..ff5ece651a 100644
--- a/savevm.c
+++ b/savevm.c
@@ -2410,7 +2410,7 @@ void qmp_xen_save_devices_state(const char *filename, Error **errp)
 
     f = qemu_fopen(filename, "wb");
     if (!f) {
-        error_set(errp, QERR_OPEN_FILE_FAILED, filename);
+        error_setg_file_open(errp, errno, filename);
         goto the_end;
     }
     ret = qemu_save_device_state(f);
diff --git a/util/error.c b/util/error.c
index 519f6b6ce0..53b04354ae 100644
--- a/util/error.c
+++ b/util/error.c
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ void error_set_errno(Error **errp, int os_errno, ErrorClass err_class,
     *errp = err;
 }
 
+void error_setg_file_open(Error **errp, int os_errno, const char *filename)
+{
+    error_setg_errno(errp, os_errno, "Could not open '%s'", filename);
+}
+
 Error *error_copy(const Error *err)
 {
     Error *err_new;