diff --git a/qemu-file.c b/qemu-file.c
index f074af15c3..e5ec798e0b 100644
--- a/qemu-file.c
+++ b/qemu-file.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ static int stdio_put_buffer(void *opaque, const uint8_t *buf, int64_t pos,
     res = fwrite(buf, 1, size, s->stdio_file);
 
     if (res != size) {
-        return -EIO;	/* fake errno value */
+        return -errno;
     }
     return res;
 }