diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index b79b1ce7fe..1a5cb554a8 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -661,8 +661,10 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_create_opts_simple(BlockDriver *drv,
     blk = blk_co_new_open(filename, NULL, options,
                           BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_RESIZE, errp);
     if (!blk) {
-        error_prepend(errp, "Protocol driver '%s' does not support image "
-                      "creation, and opening the image failed: ",
+        error_prepend(errp, "Protocol driver '%s' does not support creating "
+                      "new images, so an existing image must be selected as "
+                      "the target; however, opening the given target as an "
+                      "existing image failed: ",
                       drv->format_name);
         return -EINVAL;
     }