diff --git a/include/qemu/log.h b/include/qemu/log.h
index 234fa81..df8d041 100644
--- a/include/qemu/log.h
+++ b/include/qemu/log.h
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ extern const QEMULogItem qemu_log_items[];
 void qemu_set_log(int log_flags);
 void qemu_log_needs_buffers(void);
 void qemu_set_log_filename(const char *filename);
-void qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(const char *ranges);
+void qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(const char *ranges, Error **errp);
 bool qemu_log_in_addr_range(uint64_t addr);
 int qemu_str_to_log_mask(const char *str);
 
diff --git a/tests/test-logging.c b/tests/test-logging.c
index 5ef5bb8..e043adc 100644
--- a/tests/test-logging.c
+++ b/tests/test-logging.c
@@ -27,11 +27,14 @@
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 
 #include "qemu-common.h"
-#include "include/qemu/log.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qemu/log.h"
 
 static void test_parse_range(void)
 {
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0x100");
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0x100", &error_abort);
 
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0xfff));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1000));
@@ -39,56 +42,40 @@ static void test_parse_range(void)
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x10ff));
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1100));
 
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000-0x100");
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000-0x100", &error_abort);
 
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1001));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1000));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x0f01));
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x0f00));
 
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000..0x1100");
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000..0x1100", &error_abort);
 
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0xfff));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1000));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1100));
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1101));
 
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000..0x1000");
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000..0x1000", &error_abort);
 
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0xfff));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1000));
     g_assert_false(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1001));
 
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0x100,0x2100-0x100,0x3000..0x3100");
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0x100,0x2100-0x100,0x3000..0x3100",
+                            &error_abort);
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x1050));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x2050));
     g_assert(qemu_log_in_addr_range(0x3050));
+
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+onehundred", &err);
+    error_free_or_abort(&err);
+
+    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0", &err);
+    error_free_or_abort(&err);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_HAS_GLIB_SUBPROCESS_TESTS
-static void test_parse_invalid_range_subprocess(void)
-{
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+onehundred");
-}
-static void test_parse_invalid_range(void)
-{
-    g_test_trap_subprocess("/logging/parse_invalid_range/subprocess", 0, 0);
-    g_test_trap_assert_failed();
-    g_test_trap_assert_stdout("");
-    g_test_trap_assert_stderr("*Failed to parse range in: 0x1000+onehundred\n");
-}
-static void test_parse_zero_range_subprocess(void)
-{
-    qemu_set_dfilter_ranges("0x1000+0");
-}
-static void test_parse_zero_range(void)
-{
-    g_test_trap_subprocess("/logging/parse_zero_range/subprocess", 0, 0);
-    g_test_trap_assert_failed();
-    g_test_trap_assert_stdout("");
-    g_test_trap_assert_stderr("*Failed to parse range in: 0x1000+0\n");
-}
-
 /* As the only real failure from a bad log filename path spec is
  * reporting to the user we have to use the g_test_trap_subprocess
  * mechanism and check no errors reported on stderr.
@@ -126,10 +113,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_range", test_parse_range);
 #ifdef CONFIG_HAS_GLIB_SUBPROCESS_TESTS
-    g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_invalid_range/subprocess", test_parse_invalid_range_subprocess);
-    g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_invalid_range", test_parse_invalid_range);
-    g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_zero_range/subprocess", test_parse_zero_range_subprocess);
-    g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_zero_range", test_parse_zero_range);
     g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_path", test_parse_path);
     g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_path/subprocess", test_parse_path_subprocess);
     g_test_add_func("/logging/parse_invalid_path", test_parse_invalid_path);
diff --git a/util/log.c b/util/log.c
index 6f45e0a..fcf85c6 100644
--- a/util/log.c
+++ b/util/log.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "qemu/log.h"
 #include "qemu/range.h"
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qemu/cutils.h"
 #include "trace/control.h"
 
@@ -142,75 +143,75 @@ bool qemu_log_in_addr_range(uint64_t addr)
 }
 
 
-void qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(const char *filter_spec)
+void qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(const char *filter_spec, Error **errp)
 {
     gchar **ranges = g_strsplit(filter_spec, ",", 0);
+    int i;
 
     if (debug_regions) {
         g_array_unref(debug_regions);
         debug_regions = NULL;
     }
 
-    if (ranges) {
-        gchar **next = ranges;
-        gchar *r = *next++;
+    debug_regions = g_array_sized_new(FALSE, FALSE,
+                                      sizeof(Range), g_strv_length(ranges));
+    for (i = 0; ranges[i]; i++) {
+        const char *r = ranges[i];
+        const char *range_op, *r2, *e;
+        uint64_t r1val, r2val;
+        struct Range range;
 
-        debug_regions = g_array_sized_new(FALSE, FALSE,
-                                          sizeof(Range), g_strv_length(ranges));
-        while (r) {
-            char *range_op = strstr(r, "-");
-            char *r2 = range_op ? range_op + 1 : NULL;
-            if (!range_op) {
-                range_op = strstr(r, "+");
-                r2 = range_op ? range_op + 1 : NULL;
-            }
-            if (!range_op) {
-                range_op = strstr(r, "..");
-                r2 = range_op ? range_op + 2 : NULL;
-            }
-            if (range_op) {
-                const char *e = NULL;
-                uint64_t r1val, r2val;
-
-                if ((qemu_strtoull(r, &e, 0, &r1val) == 0) &&
-                    (qemu_strtoull(r2, NULL, 0, &r2val) == 0) &&
-                    r2val > 0) {
-                    struct Range range;
-
-                    g_assert(e == range_op);
+        range_op = strstr(r, "-");
+        r2 = range_op ? range_op + 1 : NULL;
+        if (!range_op) {
+            range_op = strstr(r, "+");
+            r2 = range_op ? range_op + 1 : NULL;
+        }
+        if (!range_op) {
+            range_op = strstr(r, "..");
+            r2 = range_op ? range_op + 2 : NULL;
+        }
+        if (!range_op) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Bad range specifier");
+            goto out;
+        }
 
-                    switch (*range_op) {
-                    case '+':
-                    {
-                        range.begin = r1val;
-                        range.end = r1val + (r2val - 1);
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    case '-':
-                    {
-                        range.end = r1val;
-                        range.begin = r1val - (r2val - 1);
-                        break;
-                    }
-                    case '.':
-                        range.begin = r1val;
-                        range.end = r2val;
-                        break;
-                    default:
-                        g_assert_not_reached();
-                    }
-                    g_array_append_val(debug_regions, range);
+        if (qemu_strtoull(r, &e, 0, &r1val)
+            || e != range_op) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Invalid number to the left of %.*s",
+                       (int)(r2 - range_op), range_op);
+            goto out;
+        }
+        if (qemu_strtoull(r2, NULL, 0, &r2val)) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Invalid number to the right of %.*s",
+                       (int)(r2 - range_op), range_op);
+            goto out;
+        }
+        if (r2val == 0) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Invalid range");
+            goto out;
+        }
 
-                } else {
-                    g_error("Failed to parse range in: %s", r);
-                }
-            } else {
-                g_error("Bad range specifier in: %s", r);
-            }
-            r = *next++;
+        switch (*range_op) {
+        case '+':
+            range.begin = r1val;
+            range.end = r1val + (r2val - 1);
+            break;
+        case '-':
+            range.end = r1val;
+            range.begin = r1val - (r2val - 1);
+            break;
+        case '.':
+            range.begin = r1val;
+            range.end = r2val;
+            break;
+        default:
+            g_assert_not_reached();
         }
-        g_strfreev(ranges);
+        g_array_append_val(debug_regions, range);
     }
+out:
+    g_strfreev(ranges);
 }
 
 /* fflush() the log file */
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 45eff56..0a42577 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3345,7 +3345,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 log_file = optarg;
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_DFILTER:
-                qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(optarg);
+                qemu_set_dfilter_ranges(optarg, &error_fatal);
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_s:
                 add_device_config(DEV_GDB, "tcp::" DEFAULT_GDBSTUB_PORT);
