diff --git a/lib/libvmmapi/vmmapi.c b/lib/libvmmapi/vmmapi.c
index b36ad1c84423..7d46a85b1cd5 100644
--- a/lib/libvmmapi/vmmapi.c
+++ b/lib/libvmmapi/vmmapi.c
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ vm_open(const char *name)
 
 	return (vm);
 err:
-	vm_destroy(vm);
+	free(vm);
 	return (NULL);
 }
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/bhyvectl/bhyvectl.c b/usr.sbin/bhyvectl/bhyvectl.c
index 68cc958e66ec..0f7b9533fe4b 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/bhyvectl/bhyvectl.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/bhyvectl/bhyvectl.c
@@ -1950,7 +1950,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (!error) {
 		ctx = vm_open(vmname);
 		if (ctx == NULL) {
-			printf("VM:%s is not created.\n", vmname);
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "vm_open: %s could not be opened: %s\n",
+			    vmname, strerror(errno));
 			exit (1);
 		}
 	}