diff --git a/hw/qdev-properties.c b/hw/qdev-properties.c
index f5ca05f..8547ad2 100644
--- a/hw/qdev-properties.c
+++ b/hw/qdev-properties.c
@@ -565,13 +565,8 @@ int qdev_prop_parse(DeviceState *dev, const char *name, const char *value)
         return -1;
     }
     if (prop->info->parse(dev, prop, value) != 0) {
-        if (strcmp(value, "?") != 0) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "property \"%s.%s\": failed to parse \"%s\"\n",
-                    dev->info->name, name, value);
-        } else {
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s.%s=%s\n",
-                    dev->info->name, name, prop->info->name);
-        }
+        fprintf(stderr, "property \"%s.%s\": failed to parse \"%s\"\n",
+                dev->info->name, name, value);
         return -1;
     }
     return 0;