diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 969edce186..2e40e1fc84 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -3283,7 +3283,7 @@ static int img_resize(int argc, char **argv)
         error_report("Image is read-only");
         break;
     default:
-        error_report("Error resizing image (%d)", -ret);
+        error_report("Error resizing image: %s", strerror(-ret));
         break;
     }
 out: