diff --git a/hw/virtio/virtio.c b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
index 464947f76d..bd3d26abb7 100644
--- a/hw/virtio/virtio.c
+++ b/hw/virtio/virtio.c
@@ -2448,7 +2448,7 @@ void GCC_FMT_ATTR(2, 3) virtio_error(VirtIODevice *vdev, const char *fmt, ...)
     va_list ap;
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
-    error_vreport(fmt, ap);
+    vreport(ERROR, fmt, ap);
     va_end(ap);
 
     if (virtio_vdev_has_feature(vdev, VIRTIO_F_VERSION_1)) {
diff --git a/include/qemu/error-report.h b/include/qemu/error-report.h
index 3001865896..39b554c3b9 100644
--- a/include/qemu/error-report.h
+++ b/include/qemu/error-report.h
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ typedef struct Location {
     struct Location *prev;
 } Location;
 
+typedef enum {
+    ERROR,
+    WARN,
+    INFO,
+} report_types;
+
 Location *loc_push_restore(Location *loc);
 Location *loc_push_none(Location *loc);
 Location *loc_pop(Location *loc);
@@ -30,12 +36,14 @@ void loc_set_none(void);
 void loc_set_cmdline(char **argv, int idx, int cnt);
 void loc_set_file(const char *fname, int lno);
 
+void vreport(report_types type, const char *fmt, va_list ap) GCC_FMT_ATTR(2, 0);
+void report(report_types type, const char *fmt, ...)  GCC_FMT_ATTR(2, 3);
+
 void error_vprintf(const char *fmt, va_list ap) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 0);
 void error_printf(const char *fmt, ...) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 2);
 void error_vprintf_unless_qmp(const char *fmt, va_list ap) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 0);
 void error_printf_unless_qmp(const char *fmt, ...) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 2);
 void error_set_progname(const char *argv0);
-void error_vreport(const char *fmt, va_list ap) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 0);
 void error_report(const char *fmt, ...) GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 2);
 const char *error_get_progname(void);
 extern bool enable_timestamp_msg;
diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 45027b9281..4a3074e758 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2530,7 +2530,8 @@ sub process {
 				error_set|
 				error_prepend|
 				error_reportf_err|
-				error_vreport|
+				vreport|
+				report|
 				error_report}x;
 
 	if ($rawline =~ /\b(?:$qemu_error_funcs)\s*\(.*\".*\\n/) {
diff --git a/util/qemu-error.c b/util/qemu-error.c
index 1c5e35ecdb..83206532dd 100644
--- a/util/qemu-error.c
+++ b/util/qemu-error.c
@@ -179,17 +179,28 @@ static void print_loc(void)
 
 bool enable_timestamp_msg;
 /*
- * Print an error message to current monitor if we have one, else to stderr.
+ * Print a message to current monitor if we have one, else to stderr.
  * Format arguments like vsprintf().  The resulting message should be
  * a single phrase, with no newline or trailing punctuation.
  * Prepend the current location and append a newline.
  * It's wrong to call this in a QMP monitor.  Use error_setg() there.
  */
-void error_vreport(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
+void vreport(report_types type, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
     GTimeVal tv;
     gchar *timestr;
 
+    switch (type) {
+    case ERROR:
+        /* To maintin compatibility we don't add anything here */
+        break;
+    case WARN:
+        error_printf("warning: ");
+        break;
+    case INFO:
+        error_printf("info: ");
+        break;
+    }
     if (enable_timestamp_msg && !cur_mon) {
         g_get_current_time(&tv);
         timestr = g_time_val_to_iso8601(&tv);
@@ -203,6 +214,22 @@ void error_vreport(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 }
 
 /*
+ * Print a message to current monitor if we have one, else to stderr.
+ * Format arguments like sprintf().  The resulting message should be a
+ * single phrase, with no newline or trailing punctuation.
+ * Prepend the current location and append a newline.
+ * It's wrong to call this in a QMP monitor.  Use error_setg() there.
+ */
+void report(report_types type, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+    va_list ap;
+
+    va_start(ap, fmt);
+    vreport(type, fmt, ap);
+    va_end(ap);
+}
+
+/*
  * Print an error message to current monitor if we have one, else to stderr.
  * Format arguments like sprintf().  The resulting message should be a
  * single phrase, with no newline or trailing punctuation.
@@ -214,6 +241,6 @@ void error_report(const char *fmt, ...)
     va_list ap;
 
     va_start(ap, fmt);
-    error_vreport(fmt, ap);
+    vreport(ERROR, fmt, ap);
     va_end(ap);
 }
