diff --git a/src/util/virlog.c b/src/util/virlog.c
index 7b584f8e37..7933e1a7a0 100644
--- a/src/util/virlog.c
+++ b/src/util/virlog.c
@@ -750,8 +750,10 @@ virLogNewOutputToFile(virLogPriority priority,
     virLogOutputPtr ret = NULL;
 
     fd = open(file, O_CREAT | O_APPEND | O_WRONLY, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR);
-    if (fd < 0)
+    if (fd < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno, _("failed to open %s"), file);
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     if (!(ret = virLogOutputNew(virLogOutputToFd, virLogCloseFd,
                                 (void *)(intptr_t)fd,