diff --git a/stubs/error-printf.c b/stubs/error-printf.c
index ac6b92aa69..99c6406668 100644
--- a/stubs/error-printf.c
+++ b/stubs/error-printf.c
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 
 void error_vprintf(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
-    if (g_test_initialized() && !g_test_subprocess()) {
+    if (g_test_initialized() && !g_test_subprocess() &&
+        getenv("QTEST_SILENT_ERRORS")) {
         char *msg = g_strdup_vprintf(fmt, ap);
         g_test_message("%s", msg);
         g_free(msg);
diff --git a/tests/test-vmstate.c b/tests/test-vmstate.c
index 087844b6c8..37a7a93784 100644
--- a/tests/test-vmstate.c
+++ b/tests/test-vmstate.c
@@ -859,6 +859,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     module_call_init(MODULE_INIT_QOM);
 
+    setenv("QTEST_SILENT_ERRORS", "1", 1);
+
     g_test_init(&argc, &argv, NULL);
     g_test_add_func("/vmstate/simple/primitive", test_simple_primitive);
     g_test_add_func("/vmstate/versioned/load/v1", test_load_v1);