diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index 524e589..b9dd933 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -1274,17 +1274,22 @@ void hmp_loadvm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 {
     int saved_vm_running  = runstate_is_running();
     const char *name = qdict_get_str(qdict, "name");
+    Error *err = NULL;
 
     vm_stop(RUN_STATE_RESTORE_VM);
 
-    if (load_vmstate(name) == 0 && saved_vm_running) {
+    if (load_vmstate(name, &err) == 0 && saved_vm_running) {
         vm_start();
     }
+    hmp_handle_error(mon, &err);
 }
 
 void hmp_savevm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
 {
-    save_vmstate(qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "name"));
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    save_vmstate(qdict_get_try_str(qdict, "name"), &err);
+    hmp_handle_error(mon, &err);
 }
 
 void hmp_delvm(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
diff --git a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
index 9240fdb..16f740f 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/sysemu.h
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ void qemu_remove_exit_notifier(Notifier *notify);
 void qemu_add_machine_init_done_notifier(Notifier *notify);
 void qemu_remove_machine_init_done_notifier(Notifier *notify);
 
-int save_vmstate(const char *name);
-int load_vmstate(const char *name);
+int save_vmstate(const char *name, Error **errp);
+int load_vmstate(const char *name, Error **errp);
 
 void qemu_announce_self(void);
 
diff --git a/migration/savevm.c b/migration/savevm.c
index 0012de3..f8d1e8b 100644
--- a/migration/savevm.c
+++ b/migration/savevm.c
@@ -2074,7 +2074,7 @@ int qemu_loadvm_state(QEMUFile *f)
     return ret;
 }
 
-int save_vmstate(const char *name)
+int save_vmstate(const char *name, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs, *bs1;
     QEMUSnapshotInfo sn1, *sn = &sn1, old_sn1, *old_sn = &old_sn1;
@@ -2084,29 +2084,27 @@ int save_vmstate(const char *name)
     uint64_t vm_state_size;
     qemu_timeval tv;
     struct tm tm;
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
     AioContext *aio_context;
 
     if (!bdrv_all_can_snapshot(&bs)) {
-        error_report("Device '%s' is writable but does not support snapshots",
-                     bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+        error_setg(errp, "Device '%s' is writable but does not support "
+                   "snapshots", bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         return ret;
     }
 
     /* Delete old snapshots of the same name */
     if (name) {
-        ret = bdrv_all_delete_snapshot(name, &bs1, &local_err);
+        ret = bdrv_all_delete_snapshot(name, &bs1, errp);
         if (ret < 0) {
-            error_reportf_err(local_err,
-                              "Error while deleting snapshot on device '%s': ",
-                              bdrv_get_device_name(bs1));
+            error_prepend(errp, "Error while deleting snapshot on device "
+                          "'%s': ", bdrv_get_device_name(bs1));
             return ret;
         }
     }
 
     bs = bdrv_all_find_vmstate_bs();
     if (bs == NULL) {
-        error_report("No block device can accept snapshots");
+        error_setg(errp, "No block device can accept snapshots");
         return ret;
     }
     aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(bs);
@@ -2115,7 +2113,7 @@ int save_vmstate(const char *name)
 
     ret = global_state_store();
     if (ret) {
-        error_report("Error saving global state");
+        error_setg(errp, "Error saving global state");
         return ret;
     }
     vm_stop(RUN_STATE_SAVE_VM);
@@ -2147,21 +2145,20 @@ int save_vmstate(const char *name)
     /* save the VM state */
     f = qemu_fopen_bdrv(bs, 1);
     if (!f) {
-        error_report("Could not open VM state file");
+        error_setg(errp, "Could not open VM state file");
         goto the_end;
     }
-    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, &local_err);
+    ret = qemu_savevm_state(f, errp);
     vm_state_size = qemu_ftell(f);
     qemu_fclose(f);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        error_report_err(local_err);
         goto the_end;
     }
 
     ret = bdrv_all_create_snapshot(sn, bs, vm_state_size, &bs);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        error_report("Error while creating snapshot on '%s'",
-                     bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+        error_setg(errp, "Error while creating snapshot on '%s'",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         goto the_end;
     }
 
@@ -2234,7 +2231,7 @@ void qmp_xen_load_devices_state(const char *filename, Error **errp)
     migration_incoming_state_destroy();
 }
 
-int load_vmstate(const char *name)
+int load_vmstate(const char *name, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriverState *bs, *bs_vm_state;
     QEMUSnapshotInfo sn;
@@ -2244,20 +2241,22 @@ int load_vmstate(const char *name)
     MigrationIncomingState *mis = migration_incoming_get_current();
 
     if (!bdrv_all_can_snapshot(&bs)) {
-        error_report("Device '%s' is writable but does not support snapshots",
-                     bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
+        error_setg(errp,
+                   "Device '%s' is writable but does not support snapshots",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         return -ENOTSUP;
     }
     ret = bdrv_all_find_snapshot(name, &bs);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        error_report("Device '%s' does not have the requested snapshot '%s'",
-                     bdrv_get_device_name(bs), name);
+        error_setg(errp,
+                   "Device '%s' does not have the requested snapshot '%s'",
+                   bdrv_get_device_name(bs), name);
         return ret;
     }
 
     bs_vm_state = bdrv_all_find_vmstate_bs();
     if (!bs_vm_state) {
-        error_report("No block device supports snapshots");
+        error_setg(errp, "No block device supports snapshots");
         return -ENOTSUP;
     }
     aio_context = bdrv_get_aio_context(bs_vm_state);
@@ -2269,8 +2268,8 @@ int load_vmstate(const char *name)
     if (ret < 0) {
         return ret;
     } else if (sn.vm_state_size == 0) {
-        error_report("This is a disk-only snapshot. Revert to it offline "
-            "using qemu-img.");
+        error_setg(errp, "This is a disk-only snapshot. Revert to it "
+                   " offline using qemu-img");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -2279,7 +2278,7 @@ int load_vmstate(const char *name)
 
     ret = bdrv_all_goto_snapshot(name, &bs);
     if (ret < 0) {
-        error_report("Error %d while activating snapshot '%s' on '%s'",
+        error_setg(errp, "Error %d while activating snapshot '%s' on '%s'",
                      ret, name, bdrv_get_device_name(bs));
         return ret;
     }
@@ -2287,7 +2286,7 @@ int load_vmstate(const char *name)
     /* restore the VM state */
     f = qemu_fopen_bdrv(bs_vm_state, 0);
     if (!f) {
-        error_report("Could not open VM state file");
+        error_setg(errp, "Could not open VM state file");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -2301,7 +2300,7 @@ int load_vmstate(const char *name)
 
     migration_incoming_state_destroy();
     if (ret < 0) {
-        error_report("Error %d while loading VM state", ret);
+        error_setg(errp, "Error %d while loading VM state", ret);
         return ret;
     }
 
diff --git a/replay/replay-snapshot.c b/replay/replay-snapshot.c
index 8cced46..c75cd38 100644
--- a/replay/replay-snapshot.c
+++ b/replay/replay-snapshot.c
@@ -62,14 +62,18 @@ void replay_vmstate_register(void)
 
 void replay_vmstate_init(void)
 {
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
     if (replay_snapshot) {
         if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_RECORD) {
-            if (save_vmstate(replay_snapshot) != 0) {
+            if (save_vmstate(replay_snapshot, &err) != 0) {
+                error_report_err(err);
                 error_report("Could not create snapshot for icount record");
                 exit(1);
             }
         } else if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_PLAY) {
-            if (load_vmstate(replay_snapshot) != 0) {
+            if (load_vmstate(replay_snapshot, &err) != 0) {
+                error_report_err(err);
                 error_report("Could not load snapshot for icount replay");
                 exit(1);
             }
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 58023fc..2520b97 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4686,7 +4686,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     if (replay_mode != REPLAY_MODE_NONE) {
         replay_vmstate_init();
     } else if (loadvm) {
-        if (load_vmstate(loadvm) < 0) {
+        Error *local_err = NULL;
+        if (load_vmstate(loadvm, &local_err) < 0) {
+            error_report_err(local_err);
             autostart = 0;
         }
     }
