diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index dacd8815d3..4b5735ca9a 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -5608,11 +5608,6 @@ void bdrv_img_create(const char *filename, const char *fmt,
             ret = bdrv_open(&bs, backing_file, NULL, NULL, back_flags,
                             backing_drv, &local_err);
             if (ret < 0) {
-                error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open '%s': %s",
-                                 backing_file,
-                                 error_get_pretty(local_err));
-                error_free(local_err);
-                local_err = NULL;
                 goto out;
             }
             size = bdrv_getlength(bs);