diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 67895b25d5..622ecba04e 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ DriveInfo *drive_init(QemuOpts *opts, int default_to_scsi)
         break;
     case IF_VIRTIO:
         /* add virtio block device */
-        opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0);
+        opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0, NULL);
         if (arch_type == QEMU_ARCH_S390X) {
             qemu_opt_set(opts, "driver", "virtio-blk-s390");
         } else {
diff --git a/hw/usb/dev-storage.c b/hw/usb/dev-storage.c
index ae22fb1c97..a96c0b9e5e 100644
--- a/hw/usb/dev-storage.c
+++ b/hw/usb/dev-storage.c
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ static USBDevice *usb_msd_init(USBBus *bus, const char *filename)
 
     /* parse -usbdevice disk: syntax into drive opts */
     snprintf(id, sizeof(id), "usb%d", nr++);
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("drive"), id, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("drive"), id, 0, NULL);
 
     p1 = strchr(filename, ':');
     if (p1++) {
diff --git a/hw/watchdog.c b/hw/watchdog.c
index 4c18965654..a42124d520 100644
--- a/hw/watchdog.c
+++ b/hw/watchdog.c
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ int select_watchdog(const char *p)
     QLIST_FOREACH(model, &watchdog_list, entry) {
         if (strcasecmp(model->wdt_name, p) == 0) {
             /* add the device */
-            opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0);
+            opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0, NULL);
             qemu_opt_set(opts, "driver", p);
             return 0;
         }
diff --git a/qemu-char.c b/qemu-char.c
index fe1126fe86..0bd903f58c 100644
--- a/qemu-char.c
+++ b/qemu-char.c
@@ -2584,10 +2584,14 @@ QemuOpts *qemu_chr_parse_compat(const char *label, const char *filename)
     int pos;
     const char *p;
     QemuOpts *opts;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("chardev"), label, 1);
-    if (NULL == opts)
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("chardev"), label, 1, &local_err);
+    if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
+        qerror_report_err(local_err);
+        error_free(local_err);
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     if (strstart(filename, "mon:", &p)) {
         filename = p;
diff --git a/qemu-config.c b/qemu-config.c
index be84a0347c..f8766468bb 100644
--- a/qemu-config.c
+++ b/qemu-config.c
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ int qemu_global_option(const char *str)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(&qemu_global_opts, NULL, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&qemu_global_opts, NULL, 0, NULL);
     qemu_opt_set(opts, "driver", driver);
     qemu_opt_set(opts, "property", property);
     qemu_opt_set(opts, "value", str+offset+1);
@@ -781,7 +781,7 @@ int qemu_config_parse(FILE *fp, QemuOptsList **lists, const char *fname)
             list = find_list(lists, group);
             if (list == NULL)
                 goto out;
-            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1);
+            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1, NULL);
             continue;
         }
         if (sscanf(line, "[%63[^]]]", group) == 1) {
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ int qemu_config_parse(FILE *fp, QemuOptsList **lists, const char *fname)
             list = find_list(lists, group);
             if (list == NULL)
                 goto out;
-            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, NULL, 0);
+            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, NULL, 0, NULL);
             continue;
         }
         if (sscanf(line, " %63s = \"%1023[^\"]\"", arg, value) == 2) {
diff --git a/qemu-option.c b/qemu-option.c
index 35cd609f75..9f531c8d01 100644
--- a/qemu-option.c
+++ b/qemu-option.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "qemu-error.h"
 #include "qemu-objects.h"
 #include "qemu-option.h"
+#include "error.h"
 #include "qerror.h"
 
 /*
@@ -729,20 +730,21 @@ static int id_wellformed(const char *id)
     return 1;
 }
 
-QemuOpts *qemu_opts_create(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id, int fail_if_exists)
+QemuOpts *qemu_opts_create(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id,
+                           int fail_if_exists, Error **errp)
 {
     QemuOpts *opts = NULL;
 
     if (id) {
         if (!id_wellformed(id)) {
-            qerror_report(QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "id", "an identifier");
+            error_set(errp,QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "id", "an identifier");
             error_printf_unless_qmp("Identifiers consist of letters, digits, '-', '.', '_', starting with a letter.\n");
             return NULL;
         }
         opts = qemu_opts_find(list, id);
         if (opts != NULL) {
             if (fail_if_exists && !list->merge_lists) {
-                qerror_report(QERR_DUPLICATE_ID, id, list->name);
+                error_set(errp, QERR_DUPLICATE_ID, id, list->name);
                 return NULL;
             } else {
                 return opts;
@@ -783,9 +785,12 @@ int qemu_opts_set(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id,
                   const char *name, const char *value)
 {
     QemuOpts *opts;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1);
-    if (opts == NULL) {
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1, &local_err);
+    if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
+        qerror_report_err(local_err);
+        error_free(local_err);
         return -1;
     }
     return qemu_opt_set(opts, name, value);
@@ -883,6 +888,7 @@ static QemuOpts *opts_parse(QemuOptsList *list, const char *params,
     char value[1024], *id = NULL;
     const char *p;
     QemuOpts *opts;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
 
     assert(!permit_abbrev || list->implied_opt_name);
     firstname = permit_abbrev ? list->implied_opt_name : NULL;
@@ -898,13 +904,18 @@ static QemuOpts *opts_parse(QemuOptsList *list, const char *params,
         if (!id && !QTAILQ_EMPTY(&list->head)) {
             opts = qemu_opts_find(list, NULL);
         } else {
-            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 0);
+            opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 0, &local_err);
         }
     } else {
-        opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1);
+        opts = qemu_opts_create(list, id, 1, &local_err);
     }
-    if (opts == NULL)
+    if (opts == NULL) {
+        if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
+            qerror_report_err(local_err);
+            error_free(local_err);
+        }
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     if (opts_do_parse(opts, params, firstname, defaults) != 0) {
         qemu_opts_del(opts);
@@ -975,11 +986,17 @@ static void qemu_opts_from_qdict_1(const char *key, QObject *obj, void *opaque)
 QemuOpts *qemu_opts_from_qdict(QemuOptsList *list, const QDict *qdict)
 {
     QemuOpts *opts;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(list, qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "id"), 1);
-    if (opts == NULL)
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(list, qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "id"), 1,
+                            &local_err);
+    if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
+        qerror_report_err(local_err);
+        error_free(local_err);
         return NULL;
+    }
 
+    assert(opts != NULL);
     qdict_iter(qdict, qemu_opts_from_qdict_1, opts);
     return opts;
 }
diff --git a/qemu-option.h b/qemu-option.h
index 3ca00c3cec..4d5b3d3f42 100644
--- a/qemu-option.h
+++ b/qemu-option.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include "qemu-queue.h"
+#include "error.h"
 #include "qdict.h"
 
 enum QEMUOptionParType {
@@ -116,7 +117,8 @@ int qemu_opt_foreach(QemuOpts *opts, qemu_opt_loopfunc func, void *opaque,
                      int abort_on_failure);
 
 QemuOpts *qemu_opts_find(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id);
-QemuOpts *qemu_opts_create(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id, int fail_if_exists);
+QemuOpts *qemu_opts_create(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id,
+                           int fail_if_exists, Error **errp);
 void qemu_opts_reset(QemuOptsList *list);
 void qemu_opts_loc_restore(QemuOpts *opts);
 int qemu_opts_set(QemuOptsList *list, const char *id,
diff --git a/qemu-sockets.c b/qemu-sockets.c
index 46c7619c7e..2ae715db76 100644
--- a/qemu-sockets.c
+++ b/qemu-sockets.c
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ int inet_listen(const char *str, char *ostr, int olen,
     char *optstr;
     int sock = -1;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0, NULL);
     if (inet_parse(opts, str) == 0) {
         sock = inet_listen_opts(opts, port_offset, errp);
         if (sock != -1 && ostr) {
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ int inet_connect(const char *str, bool block, Error **errp)
     QemuOpts *opts;
     int sock = -1;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0, NULL);
     if (inet_parse(opts, str) == 0) {
         if (block) {
             qemu_opt_set(opts, "block", "on");
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ int unix_listen(const char *str, char *ostr, int olen)
     char *path, *optstr;
     int sock, len;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0, NULL);
 
     optstr = strchr(str, ',');
     if (optstr) {
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ int unix_connect(const char *path)
     QemuOpts *opts;
     int sock;
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(&dummy_opts, NULL, 0, NULL);
     qemu_opt_set(opts, "path", path);
     sock = unix_connect_opts(opts);
     qemu_opts_del(opts);
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 23ab3a34d0..148542617d 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1786,7 +1786,7 @@ static int balloon_parse(const char *arg)
                 return  -1;
         } else {
             /* create empty opts */
-            opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0);
+            opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0, NULL);
         }
         qemu_opt_set(opts, "driver", "virtio-balloon");
         return 0;
@@ -1921,7 +1921,7 @@ static void monitor_parse(const char *optarg, const char *mode)
         }
     }
 
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("mon"), label, 1);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("mon"), label, 1, NULL);
     if (!opts) {
         fprintf(stderr, "duplicate chardev: %s\n", label);
         exit(1);
@@ -2035,14 +2035,14 @@ static int virtcon_parse(const char *devname)
         exit(1);
     }
 
-    bus_opts = qemu_opts_create(device, NULL, 0);
+    bus_opts = qemu_opts_create(device, NULL, 0, NULL);
     if (arch_type == QEMU_ARCH_S390X) {
         qemu_opt_set(bus_opts, "driver", "virtio-serial-s390");
     } else {
         qemu_opt_set(bus_opts, "driver", "virtio-serial-pci");
     } 
 
-    dev_opts = qemu_opts_create(device, NULL, 0);
+    dev_opts = qemu_opts_create(device, NULL, 0, NULL);
     qemu_opt_set(dev_opts, "driver", "virtconsole");
 
     snprintf(label, sizeof(label), "virtcon%d", index);
@@ -2065,7 +2065,7 @@ static int debugcon_parse(const char *devname)
     if (!qemu_chr_new("debugcon", devname, NULL)) {
         exit(1);
     }
-    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), "debugcon", 1);
+    opts = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), "debugcon", 1, NULL);
     if (!opts) {
         fprintf(stderr, "qemu: already have a debugcon device\n");
         exit(1);
@@ -2813,7 +2813,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                     exit(1);
                 }
                 fsdev = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("fsdev"),
-                                         qemu_opt_get(opts, "mount_tag"), 1);
+                                         qemu_opt_get(opts, "mount_tag"),
+                                         1, NULL);
                 if (!fsdev) {
                     fprintf(stderr, "duplicate fsdev id: %s\n",
                             qemu_opt_get(opts, "mount_tag"));
@@ -2845,7 +2846,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
                 qemu_opt_set_bool(fsdev, "readonly",
                                 qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "readonly", 0));
-                device = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0);
+                device = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0,
+                                          NULL);
                 qemu_opt_set(device, "driver", "virtio-9p-pci");
                 qemu_opt_set(device, "fsdev",
                              qemu_opt_get(opts, "mount_tag"));
@@ -2857,14 +2859,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 QemuOpts *fsdev;
                 QemuOpts *device;
 
-                fsdev = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("fsdev"), "v_synth", 1);
+                fsdev = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("fsdev"), "v_synth",
+                                         1, NULL);
                 if (!fsdev) {
                     fprintf(stderr, "duplicate option: %s\n", "virtfs_synth");
                     exit(1);
                 }
                 qemu_opt_set(fsdev, "fsdriver", "synth");
 
-                device = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0);
+                device = qemu_opts_create(qemu_find_opts("device"), NULL, 0,
+                                          NULL);
                 qemu_opt_set(device, "driver", "virtio-9p-pci");
                 qemu_opt_set(device, "fsdev", "v_synth");
                 qemu_opt_set(device, "mount_tag", "v_synth");