diff --git a/include/libvirt/virterror.h b/include/libvirt/virterror.h
index c6d1a761fb..83f76d84cb 100644
--- a/include/libvirt/virterror.h
+++ b/include/libvirt/virterror.h
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Description: Provides the interfaces of the libvirt library to handle
  *              errors raised while using the library.
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006-2015 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006-2016 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -310,6 +310,7 @@ typedef enum {
                                            CPU*/
     VIR_ERR_XML_INVALID_SCHEMA = 92,    /* XML document doesn't validate against schema */
     VIR_ERR_MIGRATE_FINISH_OK = 93,     /* Finish API succeeded but it is expected to return NULL */
+    VIR_ERR_AUTH_UNAVAILABLE = 94,	/* authentication unavailable */
 } virErrorNumber;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/util/virerror.c b/src/util/virerror.c
index e1bcf52e07..377c2b11a2 100644
--- a/src/util/virerror.c
+++ b/src/util/virerror.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virerror.c: error handling and reporting code for libvirt
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006, 2008-2015 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006, 2008-2016 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -1095,6 +1095,12 @@ virErrorMsg(virErrorNumber error, const char *info)
             else
                 errmsg = _("authentication cancelled: %s");
             break;
+        case VIR_ERR_AUTH_UNAVAILABLE:
+            if (info == NULL)
+                errmsg = _("authentication unavailable");
+            else
+                errmsg = _("authentication unavailable: %s");
+            break;
         case VIR_ERR_NO_STORAGE_POOL:
             if (info == NULL)
                 errmsg = _("Storage pool not found");
diff --git a/src/util/virpolkit.c b/src/util/virpolkit.c
index 8da91f2cdb..df707f1a2d 100644
--- a/src/util/virpolkit.c
+++ b/src/util/virpolkit.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * virpolkit.c: helpers for using polkit APIs
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014, 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -121,8 +121,10 @@ int virPolkitCheckAuth(const char *actionid,
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_AUTH_CANCELLED, "%s",
                            _("user cancelled authentication process"));
         else if (is_challenge)
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_AUTH_FAILED, "%s",
-                           _("no agent is available to authenticate"));
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_AUTH_UNAVAILABLE,
+                           _("no polkit agent available to authenticate "
+                             "action '%s'"),
+                           actionid);
         else
             virReportError(VIR_ERR_AUTH_FAILED, "%s",
                            _("access denied by policy"));
diff --git a/tests/virpolkittest.c b/tests/virpolkittest.c
index 1ef7635fd8..73f001b6a1 100644
--- a/tests/virpolkittest.c
+++ b/tests/virpolkittest.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014, 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -220,8 +220,9 @@ static int testPolkitAuthChallenge(const void *opaque ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED)
     }
 
     err = virGetLastError();
-    if (!err || !strstr(err->message,
-                       _("no agent is available to authenticate"))) {
+    if (!err || err->domain != VIR_FROM_POLKIT ||
+        err->code != VIR_ERR_AUTH_UNAVAILABLE ||
+        !strstr(err->message, _("no polkit agent available to authenticate"))) {
         fprintf(stderr, "Incorrect error response\n");
         goto cleanup;
     }