diff --git a/util/osdep.c b/util/osdep.c
index c99f1e7db2..8ea7a807c1 100644
--- a/util/osdep.c
+++ b/util/osdep.c
@@ -332,11 +332,24 @@ qemu_open_internal(const char *name, int flags, mode_t mode, Error **errp)
 
     if (ret == -1) {
         const char *action = flags & O_CREAT ? "create" : "open";
+#ifdef O_DIRECT
+        /* Give more helpful error message for O_DIRECT */
+        if (errno == EINVAL && (flags & O_DIRECT)) {
+            ret = open(name, flags & ~O_DIRECT, mode);
+            if (ret != -1) {
+                close(ret);
+                error_setg(errp, "Could not %s '%s': "
+                           "filesystem does not support O_DIRECT",
+                           action, name);
+                errno = EINVAL; /* restore first open()'s errno */
+                return -1;
+            }
+        }
+#endif /* O_DIRECT */
         error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Could not %s '%s'",
                          action, name);
     }
 
-
     return ret;
 }