diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index d06dd51..4b3bcd4 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -335,10 +335,11 @@ void bdrv_register(BlockDriver *bdrv)
 }
 
 /* create a new block device (by default it is empty) */
-BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(const char *device_name, Error **errp)
+BlockDriverState *bdrv_new_named(const char *device_name, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs;
-    int i;
+
+    assert(*device_name);
 
     if (bdrv_find(device_name)) {
         error_setg(errp, "Device with id '%s' already exists",
@@ -351,12 +352,23 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(const char *device_name, Error **errp)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    bs = g_new0(BlockDriverState, 1);
-    QLIST_INIT(&bs->dirty_bitmaps);
+    bs = bdrv_new();
+
     pstrcpy(bs->device_name, sizeof(bs->device_name), device_name);
     if (device_name[0] != '\0') {
         QTAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&bdrv_states, bs, device_list);
     }
+
+    return bs;
+}
+
+BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(void)
+{
+    BlockDriverState *bs;
+    int i;
+
+    bs = g_new0(BlockDriverState, 1);
+    QLIST_INIT(&bs->dirty_bitmaps);
     for (i = 0; i < BLOCK_OP_TYPE_MAX; i++) {
         QLIST_INIT(&bs->op_blockers[i]);
     }
@@ -1217,7 +1229,7 @@ int bdrv_open_backing_file(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, Error **errp)
         goto free_exit;
     }
 
-    backing_hd = bdrv_new("", errp);
+    backing_hd = bdrv_new();
 
     if (bs->backing_format[0] != '\0') {
         back_drv = bdrv_find_format(bs->backing_format);
@@ -1346,7 +1358,7 @@ int bdrv_append_temp_snapshot(BlockDriverState *bs, int flags, Error **errp)
     qdict_put(snapshot_options, "file.filename",
               qstring_from_str(tmp_filename));
 
-    bs_snapshot = bdrv_new("", &error_abort);
+    bs_snapshot = bdrv_new();
 
     ret = bdrv_open(&bs_snapshot, NULL, NULL, snapshot_options,
                     flags, bdrv_qcow2, &local_err);
@@ -1417,7 +1429,7 @@ int bdrv_open(BlockDriverState **pbs, const char *filename,
     if (*pbs) {
         bs = *pbs;
     } else {
-        bs = bdrv_new("", &error_abort);
+        bs = bdrv_new();
     }
 
     /* NULL means an empty set of options */
diff --git a/block/iscsi.c b/block/iscsi.c
index 3e19202..af3d0f6 100644
--- a/block/iscsi.c
+++ b/block/iscsi.c
@@ -1528,7 +1528,7 @@ static int iscsi_create(const char *filename, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     IscsiLun *iscsilun = NULL;
     QDict *bs_options;
 
-    bs = bdrv_new("", &error_abort);
+    bs = bdrv_new();
 
     /* Read out options */
     total_size =
diff --git a/block/vvfat.c b/block/vvfat.c
index 731e591..6c9fde0 100644
--- a/block/vvfat.c
+++ b/block/vvfat.c
@@ -2939,7 +2939,7 @@ static int enable_write_target(BDRVVVFATState *s, Error **errp)
     unlink(s->qcow_filename);
 #endif
 
-    bdrv_set_backing_hd(s->bs, bdrv_new("", &error_abort));
+    bdrv_set_backing_hd(s->bs, bdrv_new());
     s->bs->backing_hd->drv = &vvfat_write_target;
     s->bs->backing_hd->opaque = g_new(void *, 1);
     *(void**)s->bs->backing_hd->opaque = s;
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index e919566..9fbd888 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ static DriveInfo *blockdev_init(const char *file, QDict *bs_opts,
     /* init */
     dinfo = g_malloc0(sizeof(*dinfo));
     dinfo->id = g_strdup(qemu_opts_id(opts));
-    dinfo->bdrv = bdrv_new(dinfo->id, &error);
+    dinfo->bdrv = bdrv_new_named(dinfo->id, &error);
     if (error) {
         error_propagate(errp, error);
         goto bdrv_new_err;
diff --git a/hw/block/xen_disk.c b/hw/block/xen_disk.c
index 2dcef07..8bac7ff 100644
--- a/hw/block/xen_disk.c
+++ b/hw/block/xen_disk.c
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ static int blk_connect(struct XenDevice *xendev)
 
         /* setup via xenbus -> create new block driver instance */
         xen_be_printf(&blkdev->xendev, 2, "create new bdrv (xenbus setup)\n");
-        blkdev->bs = bdrv_new(blkdev->dev, NULL);
+        blkdev->bs = bdrv_new_named(blkdev->dev, NULL);
         if (!blkdev->bs) {
             return -1;
         }
diff --git a/include/block/block.h b/include/block/block.h
index 8f4ad16..95139c0 100644
--- a/include/block/block.h
+++ b/include/block/block.h
@@ -203,7 +203,8 @@ BlockDriver *bdrv_find_whitelisted_format(const char *format_name,
 int bdrv_create(BlockDriver *drv, const char* filename,
                 QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp);
 int bdrv_create_file(const char *filename, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp);
-BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(const char *device_name, Error **errp);
+BlockDriverState *bdrv_new_named(const char *device_name, Error **errp);
+BlockDriverState *bdrv_new(void);
 void bdrv_make_anon(BlockDriverState *bs);
 void bdrv_swap(BlockDriverState *bs_new, BlockDriverState *bs_old);
 void bdrv_append(BlockDriverState *bs_new, BlockDriverState *bs_top);
diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 91d1ac3..4490a22 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ static BlockDriverState *bdrv_new_open(const char *id,
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     int ret;
 
-    bs = bdrv_new(id, &error_abort);
+    bs = bdrv_new_named(id, &error_abort);
 
     if (fmt) {
         drv = bdrv_find_format(fmt);
@@ -2425,7 +2425,7 @@ static int img_rebase(int argc, char **argv)
     if (!unsafe) {
         char backing_name[1024];
 
-        bs_old_backing = bdrv_new("old_backing", &error_abort);
+        bs_old_backing = bdrv_new_named("old_backing", &error_abort);
         bdrv_get_backing_filename(bs, backing_name, sizeof(backing_name));
         ret = bdrv_open(&bs_old_backing, backing_name, NULL, NULL, src_flags,
                         old_backing_drv, &local_err);
@@ -2436,7 +2436,7 @@ static int img_rebase(int argc, char **argv)
             goto out;
         }
         if (out_baseimg[0]) {
-            bs_new_backing = bdrv_new("new_backing", &error_abort);
+            bs_new_backing = bdrv_new_named("new_backing", &error_abort);
             ret = bdrv_open(&bs_new_backing, out_baseimg, NULL, NULL, src_flags,
                             new_backing_drv, &local_err);
             if (ret) {
diff --git a/qemu-io.c b/qemu-io.c
index d2ab694..44c2e1c 100644
--- a/qemu-io.c
+++ b/qemu-io.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ static int openfile(char *name, int flags, int growable, QDict *opts)
         return 1;
     }
 
-    qemuio_bs = bdrv_new("hda", &error_abort);
+    qemuio_bs = bdrv_new_named("hda", &error_abort);
 
     if (growable) {
         flags |= BDRV_O_PROTOCOL;
diff --git a/qemu-nbd.c b/qemu-nbd.c
index 9bc152e..a56ebfc 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.c
+++ b/qemu-nbd.c
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         drv = NULL;
     }
 
-    bs = bdrv_new("hda", &error_abort);
+    bs = bdrv_new_named("hda", &error_abort);
 
     srcpath = argv[optind];
     ret = bdrv_open(&bs, srcpath, NULL, NULL, flags, drv, &local_err);
