diff --git a/daemon/copy.c b/daemon/copy.c
index 15873b79c..9312e51d0 100644
--- a/daemon/copy.c
+++ b/daemon/copy.c
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ copy (const char *src, const char *src_display,
   char buf[BUFSIZ];
   size_t n;
   ssize_t r;
+  int err;
 
   if ((optargs_bitmask & GUESTFS_COPY_DEVICE_TO_DEVICE_SRCOFFSET_BITMASK)) {
     if (srcoffset < 0) {
@@ -119,8 +120,10 @@ copy (const char *src, const char *src_display,
 
     r = read (src_fd, buf, n);
     if (r == -1) {
+      err = errno;
       if (size == -1)
         pulse_mode_cancel ();
+      errno = err;
       reply_with_perror ("read: %s", src_display);
       close (src_fd);
       close (dest_fd);
@@ -138,8 +141,10 @@ copy (const char *src, const char *src_display,
 
     if (sparse && is_zero (buf, r)) {
       if (lseek (dest_fd, r, SEEK_CUR) == -1) {
+        err = errno;
         if (size == -1)
           pulse_mode_cancel ();
+        errno = err;
         reply_with_perror ("%s: seek (because of sparse flag)", dest_display);
         close (src_fd);
         close (dest_fd);
@@ -149,8 +154,10 @@ copy (const char *src, const char *src_display,
     }
 
     if (xwrite (dest_fd, buf, r) == -1) {
+      err = errno;
       if (size == -1)
         pulse_mode_cancel ();
+      errno = err;
       reply_with_perror ("%s: write", dest_display);
       close (src_fd);
       close (dest_fd);