diff --git a/src/util/virfile.c b/src/util/virfile.c
index f99e7f95e1..5d6f14ba7e 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virfile.c
@@ -497,7 +497,8 @@ int virFileUnlock(int fd G_GNUC_UNUSED,
  * temporary file on a side and renaming it to the desired name.
  * The temporary file is created using supplied @mode and
  * @uid:@gid (pass -1 for current uid/gid) and written by
- * @rewrite callback.
+ * @rewrite callback. It's callback's responsibility to report
+ * errors.
  *
  * Returns: 0 on success,
  *         -1 otherwise (with error reported)
@@ -512,6 +513,7 @@ virFileRewrite(const char *path,
     g_autofree char *newfile = NULL;
     int fd = -1;
     int ret = -1;
+    int rc;
 
     newfile = g_strdup_printf("%s.new", path);
 
@@ -524,9 +526,7 @@ virFileRewrite(const char *path,
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    if (rewrite(fd, opaque) < 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno, _("cannot write data to file '%s'"),
-                             newfile);
+    if ((rc = rewrite(fd, newfile, opaque)) < 0) {
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -558,12 +558,18 @@ virFileRewrite(const char *path,
 
 
 static int
-virFileRewriteStrHelper(int fd, const void *opaque)
+virFileRewriteStrHelper(int fd,
+                        const char *path,
+                        const void *opaque)
 {
     const char *data = opaque;
 
-    if (safewrite(fd, data, strlen(data)) < 0)
+    if (safewrite(fd, data, strlen(data)) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno,
+                             _("cannot write data to file '%s'"),
+                             path);
         return -1;
+    }
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/util/virfile.h b/src/util/virfile.h
index 34184b32aa..b04386f6e6 100644
--- a/src/util/virfile.h
+++ b/src/util/virfile.h
@@ -123,7 +123,9 @@ int virFileLock(int fd, bool shared, off_t start, off_t len, bool waitForLock)
 int virFileUnlock(int fd, off_t start, off_t len)
     G_GNUC_NO_INLINE;
 
-typedef int (*virFileRewriteFunc)(int fd, const void *opaque);
+typedef int (*virFileRewriteFunc)(int fd,
+                                  const char *path,
+                                  const void *opaque);
 int virFileRewrite(const char *path,
                    mode_t mode,
                    uid_t uid, gid_t gid,
diff --git a/src/util/virxml.c b/src/util/virxml.c
index a55eb9629b..268aad1d20 100644
--- a/src/util/virxml.c
+++ b/src/util/virxml.c
@@ -1172,17 +1172,26 @@ struct virXMLRewriteFileData {
 };
 
 static int
-virXMLRewriteFile(int fd, const void *opaque)
+virXMLRewriteFile(int fd,
+                  const char *path,
+                  const void *opaque)
 {
     const struct virXMLRewriteFileData *data = opaque;
 
-    if (data->warnCommand) {
-        if (virXMLEmitWarning(fd, data->warnName, data->warnCommand) < 0)
-            return -1;
+    if (data->warnCommand &&
+        virXMLEmitWarning(fd, data->warnName, data->warnCommand) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno,
+                             _("cannot write data to file '%s'"),
+                             path);
+        return -1;
     }
 
-    if (safewrite(fd, data->xml, strlen(data->xml)) < 0)
+    if (safewrite(fd, data->xml, strlen(data->xml)) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno,
+                             _("cannot write data to file '%s'"),
+                             path);
         return -1;
+    }
 
     return 0;
 }