diff --git a/qdev-monitor.c b/qdev-monitor.c
index 81e3ff34a9..e5136d78e0 100644
--- a/qdev-monitor.c
+++ b/qdev-monitor.c
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ static DeviceClass *qdev_get_device_class(const char **driver, Error **errp)
 {
     ObjectClass *oc;
     DeviceClass *dc;
+    const char *original_name = *driver;
 
     oc = object_class_by_name(*driver);
     if (!oc) {
@@ -200,7 +201,12 @@ static DeviceClass *qdev_get_device_class(const char **driver, Error **errp)
     }
 
     if (!object_class_dynamic_cast(oc, TYPE_DEVICE)) {
-        error_setg(errp, "'%s' is not a valid device model name", *driver);
+        if (*driver != original_name) {
+            error_setg(errp, "'%s' (alias '%s') is not a valid device model"
+                       " name", original_name, *driver);
+        } else {
+            error_setg(errp, "'%s' is not a valid device model name", *driver);
+        }
         return NULL;
     }