diff --git a/block/qcow2-refcount.c b/block/qcow2-refcount.c
index c38e970bf2..4799681137 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-refcount.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-refcount.c
@@ -747,10 +747,9 @@ int qcow2_update_snapshot_refcount(BlockDriverState *bs,
     if (l1_table_offset != s->l1_table_offset) {
         l1_table = g_malloc0(align_offset(l1_size2, 512));
         l1_allocated = 1;
-        if (bdrv_pread(bs->file, l1_table_offset,
-                       l1_table, l1_size2) != l1_size2)
-        {
-            ret = -EIO;
+
+        ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, l1_table_offset, l1_table, l1_size2);
+        if (ret < 0) {
             goto fail;
         }
 
@@ -802,7 +801,7 @@ int qcow2_update_snapshot_refcount(BlockDriverState *bs,
                         }
 
                         if (refcount < 0) {
-                            ret = -EIO;
+                            ret = refcount;
                             goto fail;
                         }
                     }
@@ -833,7 +832,7 @@ int qcow2_update_snapshot_refcount(BlockDriverState *bs,
                 refcount = get_refcount(bs, l2_offset >> s->cluster_bits);
             }
             if (refcount < 0) {
-                ret = -EIO;
+                ret = refcount;
                 goto fail;
             } else if (refcount == 1) {
                 l2_offset |= QCOW_OFLAG_COPIED;