diff --git a/tools/virsh-domain.c b/tools/virsh-domain.c
index d483f3ff38..8c557f6c1a 100644
--- a/tools/virsh-domain.c
+++ b/tools/virsh-domain.c
@@ -2966,8 +2966,10 @@ doSave(void *opaque)
         goto out;
 
     if (xmlfile &&
-        virFileReadAll(xmlfile, 8192, &xml) < 0)
+        virFileReadAll(xmlfile, 8192, &xml) < 0) {
+        vshReportError(ctl);
         goto out;
+    }
 
     if (((flags || xml)
          ? virDomainSaveFlags(dom, to, xml, flags)