diff --git a/src/util/util.c b/src/util/util.c
index 2fd0f2c158..64e4a75529 100644
--- a/src/util/util.c
+++ b/src/util/util.c
@@ -2531,9 +2531,18 @@ virGetUserIDByName(const char *name, uid_t *uid)
     }
 
     if (rc != 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(rc, _("Failed to get user record for name '%s'"),
-                             name);
-        goto cleanup;
+       /* We explicitly test for the known error values returned by
+        * getpwnam_r as the manpage says:
+        * ERRORS
+        *   0 or ENOENT or ESRCH or EBADF or EPERM or ...
+        *         The given name or uid was not found.
+        */
+       if ((rc == EINTR) || (rc == EIO) || (rc == EMFILE) ||
+           (rc == ENFILE) || (rc == ENOMEM)) {
+           virReportSystemError(rc, _("Failed to get user record for name '%s'"),
+                                name);
+           goto cleanup;
+       }
     }
 
     if (!pw) {