diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index 9b707e3d1bc3..f59c4cf89893 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1364,7 +1364,7 @@ int bdrv_append_temp_snapshot(BlockDriverState *bs, int flags, Error **errp)
 
     opts = qemu_opts_create(bdrv_qcow2.create_opts, NULL, 0,
                             &error_abort);
-    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, total_size);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, total_size, &error_abort);
     ret = bdrv_create(&bdrv_qcow2, tmp_filename, opts, &local_err);
     qemu_opts_del(opts);
     if (ret < 0) {
@@ -5649,7 +5649,7 @@ void bdrv_img_create(const char *filename, const char *fmt,
 
     /* Create parameter list with default values */
     opts = qemu_opts_create(create_opts, NULL, 0, &error_abort);
-    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, img_size);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, img_size, &error_abort);
 
     /* Parse -o options */
     if (options) {
@@ -5731,7 +5731,7 @@ void bdrv_img_create(const char *filename, const char *fmt,
                 goto out;
             }
 
-            qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, size);
+            qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, size, &error_abort);
 
             bdrv_unref(bs);
         } else {
diff --git a/block/nbd.c b/block/nbd.c
index 2f3b9adf7205..697c0219b447 100644
--- a/block/nbd.c
+++ b/block/nbd.c
@@ -215,7 +215,8 @@ static void nbd_config(BDRVNBDState *s, QDict *options, char **export,
     }
 
     if (!qemu_opt_get(s->socket_opts, "port")) {
-        qemu_opt_set_number(s->socket_opts, "port", NBD_DEFAULT_PORT);
+        qemu_opt_set_number(s->socket_opts, "port", NBD_DEFAULT_PORT,
+                            &error_abort);
     }
 
     *export = g_strdup(qdict_get_try_str(options, "export"));
diff --git a/block/qcow2.c b/block/qcow2.c
index 2ed8d95b1fd1..772087420f9f 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.c
+++ b/block/qcow2.c
@@ -1858,7 +1858,7 @@ static int qcow2_create2(const char *filename, int64_t total_size,
         meta_size += nreftablee * sizeof(uint64_t);
 
         qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE,
-                            aligned_total_size + meta_size);
+                            aligned_total_size + meta_size, &error_abort);
         qemu_opt_set(opts, BLOCK_OPT_PREALLOC, PreallocMode_lookup[prealloc]);
     }
 
diff --git a/block/vvfat.c b/block/vvfat.c
index a1a44f0ef527..5e32d773621a 100644
--- a/block/vvfat.c
+++ b/block/vvfat.c
@@ -2924,7 +2924,8 @@ static int enable_write_target(BDRVVVFATState *s, Error **errp)
     }
 
     opts = qemu_opts_create(bdrv_qcow->create_opts, NULL, 0, &error_abort);
-    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, s->sector_count * 512);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, s->sector_count * 512,
+                        &error_abort);
     qemu_opt_set(opts, BLOCK_OPT_BACKING_FILE, "fat:");
 
     ret = bdrv_create(bdrv_qcow, s->qcow_filename, opts, errp);
diff --git a/include/qemu/option.h b/include/qemu/option.h
index 320687494adb..7422cc2aaa4d 100644
--- a/include/qemu/option.h
+++ b/include/qemu/option.h
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@ void qemu_opt_set_err(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, const char *value,
                       Error **errp);
 void qemu_opt_set_bool(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, bool val,
                        Error **errp);
-int qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val);
+void qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val,
+                         Error **errp);
 typedef int (*qemu_opt_loopfunc)(const char *name, const char *value, void *opaque);
 int qemu_opt_foreach(QemuOpts *opts, qemu_opt_loopfunc func, void *opaque,
                      int abort_on_failure);
diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index fcdfb6719e45..752eecb9437c 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -1550,7 +1550,8 @@ static int img_convert(int argc, char **argv)
             goto out;
         }
 
-        qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, total_sectors * 512);
+        qemu_opt_set_number(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, total_sectors * 512,
+                            &error_abort);
         ret = add_old_style_options(out_fmt, opts, out_baseimg, NULL);
         if (ret < 0) {
             goto out;
diff --git a/tests/test-qemu-opts.c b/tests/test-qemu-opts.c
index 6b0ae333d492..3fea96ab9461 100644
--- a/tests/test-qemu-opts.c
+++ b/tests/test-qemu-opts.c
@@ -215,10 +215,10 @@ static void test_qemu_opt_get_bool(void)
 
 static void test_qemu_opt_get_number(void)
 {
+    Error *err = NULL;
     QemuOptsList *list;
     QemuOpts *opts;
     uint64_t opt;
-    int ret;
 
     list = qemu_find_opts("opts_list_01");
     g_assert(list != NULL);
@@ -238,16 +238,16 @@ static void test_qemu_opt_get_number(void)
     opt = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "number1", 5);
     g_assert(opt == 5);
 
-    ret = qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 10);
-    g_assert(ret == 0);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 10, &err);
+    g_assert(!err);
 
     /* now we have set number1, should know about it */
     opt = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "number1", 5);
     g_assert(opt == 10);
 
     /* having reset it, the returned should be the reset one not defval */
-    ret = qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 15);
-    g_assert(ret == 0);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 15, &err);
+    g_assert(!err);
 
     opt = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "number1", 5);
     g_assert(opt == 15);
@@ -349,10 +349,10 @@ static void test_qemu_opt_unset(void)
 
 static void test_qemu_opts_reset(void)
 {
+    Error *err = NULL;
     QemuOptsList *list;
     QemuOpts *opts;
     uint64_t opt;
-    int ret;
 
     list = qemu_find_opts("opts_list_01");
     g_assert(list != NULL);
@@ -372,8 +372,8 @@ static void test_qemu_opts_reset(void)
     opt = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "number1", 5);
     g_assert(opt == 5);
 
-    ret = qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 10);
-    g_assert(ret == 0);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "number1", 10, &err);
+    g_assert(!err);
 
     /* now we have set number1, should know about it */
     opt = qemu_opt_get_number(opts, "number1", 5);
diff --git a/util/qemu-option.c b/util/qemu-option.c
index 4de83261f6a3..c873b6cd9e87 100644
--- a/util/qemu-option.c
+++ b/util/qemu-option.c
@@ -589,7 +589,8 @@ void qemu_opt_set_bool(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, bool val,
     QTAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&opts->head, opt, next);
 }
 
-int qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val)
+void qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val,
+                         Error **errp)
 {
     QemuOpt *opt;
     const QemuOptDesc *desc = opts->list->desc;
@@ -597,9 +598,9 @@ int qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val)
     opt = g_malloc0(sizeof(*opt));
     opt->desc = find_desc_by_name(desc, name);
     if (!opt->desc && !opts_accepts_any(opts)) {
-        qerror_report(QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER, name);
+        error_set(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER, name);
         g_free(opt);
-        return -1;
+        return;
     }
 
     opt->name = g_strdup(name);
@@ -607,8 +608,6 @@ int qemu_opt_set_number(QemuOpts *opts, const char *name, int64_t val)
     opt->value.uint = val;
     opt->str = g_strdup_printf("%" PRId64, val);
     QTAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&opts->head, opt, next);
-
-    return 0;
 }
 
 int qemu_opt_foreach(QemuOpts *opts, qemu_opt_loopfunc func, void *opaque,
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 27e738a89e98..8ea8b087f1ec 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2684,7 +2684,7 @@ static void set_memory_options(uint64_t *ram_slots, ram_addr_t *maxram_size)
     }
 
     /* store value for the future use */
-    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "size", ram_size);
+    qemu_opt_set_number(opts, "size", ram_size, &error_abort);
     *maxram_size = ram_size;
 
     maxmem_str = qemu_opt_get(opts, "maxmem");