diff --git a/include/qapi/error.h b/include/qapi/error.h
index 3f95141a01..083e061014 100644
--- a/include/qapi/error.h
+++ b/include/qapi/error.h
@@ -322,6 +322,108 @@ void error_set_internal(Error **errp,
                         ErrorClass err_class, const char *fmt, ...)
     GCC_FMT_ATTR(6, 7);
 
+typedef struct ErrorPropagator {
+    Error **errp;
+    Error *local_err;
+} ErrorPropagator;
+
+static inline void error_propagator_cleanup(ErrorPropagator *prop)
+{
+    if (prop->local_err) {
+        error_propagate(prop->errp, prop->local_err);
+    }
+}
+
+G_DEFINE_AUTO_CLEANUP_CLEAR_FUNC(ErrorPropagator, error_propagator_cleanup);
+
+/*
+ * ErrorPropagationPair
+ *
+ * [Error *local_err, Error **errp]
+ *
+ * First element is local_err, second is original errp, which is propagation
+ * target. Yes, errp has a bit another type, so it should be converted.
+ *
+ * ErrorPropagationPair may be used as errp, which points to local_err,
+ * as it's type is compatible.
+ */
+typedef Error *ErrorPropagationPair[2];
+
+static inline void error_propagation_pair_cleanup(ErrorPropagationPair *arr)
+{
+    Error *local_err = (*arr)[0];
+    Error **errp = (Error **)(*arr)[1];
+
+    if (local_err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    }
+}
+
+G_DEFINE_AUTO_CLEANUP_CLEAR_FUNC(ErrorPropagationPair,
+                                 error_propagation_pair_cleanup);
+
+/*
+ * DEF_AUTO_ERRP
+ *
+ * Define auto_errp variable, which may be used instead of errp, and
+ * *auto_errp may be safely checked to be zero or not, and may be safely
+ * used for error_append_hint(). auto_errp is automatically propagated
+ * to errp at function exit.
+ */
+#define DEF_AUTO_ERRP(auto_errp, errp) \
+    g_auto(ErrorPropagationPair) (auto_errp) = {NULL, (Error *)(errp)}
+
+
+/*
+ * Another variant:
+ *   Pros:
+ *     - normal structure instead of cheating with array
+ *     - we can directly use errp, if it's not NULL and don't point to
+ *       error_abort or error_fatal
+ *   Cons:
+ *     - we need to define two variables instead of one
+ */
+typedef struct ErrorPropagationStruct {
+    Error *local_err;
+    Error **errp;
+} ErrorPropagationStruct;
+
+static inline void error_propagation_struct_cleanup(ErrorPropagationStruct *prop)
+{
+    if (prop->local_err) {
+        error_propagate(prop->errp, prop->local_err);
+    }
+}
+
+G_DEFINE_AUTO_CLEANUP_CLEAR_FUNC(ErrorPropagationStruct,
+                                 error_propagation_struct_cleanup);
+
+#define DEF_AUTO_ERRP_V2(auto_errp, errp) \
+    g_auto(ErrorPropagationStruct) (__auto_errp_prop) = {.errp = (errp)}; \
+    Error **auto_errp = \
+        ((errp) == NULL || *(errp) == error_abort || *(errp) == error_fatal) ? \
+        &__auto_errp_prop.local_err : \
+        (errp);
+
+/*
+ * Third variant:
+ *   Pros:
+ *     - simpler movement for functions which don't have local_err yet
+ *       the only thing to do is to call one macro at function start.
+ *       This extremely simplifies Greg's series
+ *   Cons:
+ *     - looks like errp shadowing.. Still seems safe.
+ *     - must be after all definitions of local variables and before any
+ *       code.
+ *     - like v2, several statements in one open macro
+ */
+#define MAKE_ERRP_SAFE(errp) \
+g_auto(ErrorPropagationStruct) (__auto_errp_prop) = {.errp = (errp)}; \
+if ((errp) == NULL || *(errp) == error_abort || *(errp) == error_fatal) { \
+    (errp) = &__auto_errp_prop.local_err; \
+}
+
+
 /*
  * Special error destination to abort on error.
  * See error_setg() and error_propagate() for details.
diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 5944124845..5253663329 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1275,12 +1275,11 @@ static int bdrv_open_driver(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockDriver *drv,
                             const char *node_name, QDict *options,
                             int open_flags, Error **errp)
 {
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    DEF_AUTO_ERRP_V2(auto_errp, errp);
     int i, ret;
 
-    bdrv_assign_node_name(bs, node_name, &local_err);
-    if (local_err) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    bdrv_assign_node_name(bs, node_name, auto_errp);
+    if (*auto_errp) {
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -1290,20 +1289,21 @@ static int bdrv_open_driver(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockDriver *drv,
 
     if (drv->bdrv_file_open) {
         assert(!drv->bdrv_needs_filename || bs->filename[0]);
-        ret = drv->bdrv_file_open(bs, options, open_flags, &local_err);
+        ret = drv->bdrv_file_open(bs, options, open_flags, auto_errp);
     } else if (drv->bdrv_open) {
-        ret = drv->bdrv_open(bs, options, open_flags, &local_err);
+        ret = drv->bdrv_open(bs, options, open_flags, auto_errp);
     } else {
         ret = 0;
     }
 
     if (ret < 0) {
-        if (local_err) {
-            error_propagate(errp, local_err);
-        } else if (bs->filename[0]) {
-            error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open '%s'", bs->filename);
-        } else {
-            error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open image");
+        if (!*auto_errp) {
+            if (bs->filename[0]) {
+                error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open '%s'",
+                                 bs->filename);
+            } else {
+                error_setg_errno(errp, -ret, "Could not open image");
+            }
         }
         goto open_failed;
     }
@@ -1314,9 +1314,8 @@ static int bdrv_open_driver(BlockDriverState *bs, BlockDriver *drv,
         return ret;
     }
 
-    bdrv_refresh_limits(bs, &local_err);
-    if (local_err) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    bdrv_refresh_limits(bs, auto_errp);
+    if (*auto_errp) {
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -4238,17 +4237,17 @@ out:
 void bdrv_append(BlockDriverState *bs_new, BlockDriverState *bs_top,
                  Error **errp)
 {
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    g_auto(ErrorPropagator) prop = {.errp = errp};
 
-    bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, bs_top, &local_err);
-    if (local_err) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    errp = &prop.local_err;
+
+    bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, bs_top, errp);
+    if (*errp) {
         goto out;
     }
 
-    bdrv_replace_node(bs_top, bs_new, &local_err);
-    if (local_err) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    bdrv_replace_node(bs_top, bs_new, errp);
+    if (*errp) {
         bdrv_set_backing_hd(bs_new, NULL, &error_abort);
         goto out;
     }
@@ -5309,9 +5308,9 @@ void bdrv_init_with_whitelist(void)
 static void coroutine_fn bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(BlockDriverState *bs,
                                                   Error **errp)
 {
+    DEF_AUTO_ERRP(auto_errp, errp);
     BdrvChild *child, *parent;
     uint64_t perm, shared_perm;
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
     int ret;
     BdrvDirtyBitmap *bm;
 
@@ -5324,9 +5323,8 @@ static void coroutine_fn bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(BlockDriverState *bs,
     }
 
     QLIST_FOREACH(child, &bs->children, next) {
-        bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(child->bs, &local_err);
-        if (local_err) {
-            error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+        bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(child->bs, auto_errp);
+        if (*auto_errp) {
             return;
         }
     }
@@ -5346,19 +5344,17 @@ static void coroutine_fn bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(BlockDriverState *bs,
      */
     bs->open_flags &= ~BDRV_O_INACTIVE;
     bdrv_get_cumulative_perm(bs, &perm, &shared_perm);
-    ret = bdrv_check_perm(bs, NULL, perm, shared_perm, NULL, NULL, &local_err);
+    ret = bdrv_check_perm(bs, NULL, perm, shared_perm, NULL, NULL, auto_errp);
     if (ret < 0) {
         bs->open_flags |= BDRV_O_INACTIVE;
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
         return;
     }
     bdrv_set_perm(bs, perm, shared_perm);
 
     if (bs->drv->bdrv_co_invalidate_cache) {
-        bs->drv->bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(bs, &local_err);
-        if (local_err) {
+        bs->drv->bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(bs, auto_errp);
+        if (*auto_errp) {
             bs->open_flags |= BDRV_O_INACTIVE;
-            error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             return;
         }
     }
@@ -5378,10 +5374,9 @@ static void coroutine_fn bdrv_co_invalidate_cache(BlockDriverState *bs,
 
     QLIST_FOREACH(parent, &bs->parents, next_parent) {
         if (parent->role->activate) {
-            parent->role->activate(parent, &local_err);
-            if (local_err) {
+            parent->role->activate(parent, auto_errp);
+            if (*auto_errp) {
                 bs->open_flags |= BDRV_O_INACTIVE;
-                error_propagate(errp, local_err);
                 return;
             }
         }
diff --git a/block/backup.c b/block/backup.c
index 89f7f89200..462dea4fbb 100644
--- a/block/backup.c
+++ b/block/backup.c
@@ -583,6 +583,10 @@ static const BlockJobDriver backup_job_driver = {
 static int64_t backup_calculate_cluster_size(BlockDriverState *target,
                                              Error **errp)
 {
+    /*
+     * Example of using DEF_AUTO_ERRP to make error_append_hint safe
+     */
+    DEF_AUTO_ERRP(auto_errp, errp);
     int ret;
     BlockDriverInfo bdi;
 
@@ -602,10 +606,10 @@ static int64_t backup_calculate_cluster_size(BlockDriverState *target,
                     BACKUP_CLUSTER_SIZE_DEFAULT);
         return BACKUP_CLUSTER_SIZE_DEFAULT;
     } else if (ret < 0 && !target->backing) {
-        error_setg_errno(errp, -ret,
+        error_setg_errno(auto_errp, -ret,
             "Couldn't determine the cluster size of the target image, "
             "which has no backing file");
-        error_append_hint(errp,
+        error_append_hint(auto_errp,
             "Aborting, since this may create an unusable destination image\n");
         return ret;
     } else if (ret < 0 && target->backing) {
diff --git a/block/gluster.c b/block/gluster.c
index 64028b2cba..799a2dbeca 100644
--- a/block/gluster.c
+++ b/block/gluster.c
@@ -695,6 +695,13 @@ static int qemu_gluster_parse(BlockdevOptionsGluster *gconf,
                               QDict *options, Error **errp)
 {
     int ret;
+    /*
+     * Example of using MAKE_ERRP_SAFE to make error_append_hint safe. We
+     * only need to add one macro call. Note, it must be placed exactly after
+     * all local variables defenition.
+     */
+    MAKE_ERRP_SAFE(errp);
+
     if (filename) {
         ret = qemu_gluster_parse_uri(gconf, filename);
         if (ret < 0) {
