diff --git a/block/backup.c b/block/backup.c
index 79652bf57b..0151e84395 100644
--- a/block/backup.c
+++ b/block/backup.c
@@ -361,6 +361,7 @@ BlockJob *backup_job_create(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
                   BackupPerf *perf,
                   BlockdevOnError on_source_error,
                   BlockdevOnError on_target_error,
+                  OnCbwError on_cbw_error,
                   int creation_flags,
                   BlockCompletionFunc *cb, void *opaque,
                   JobTxn *txn, Error **errp)
@@ -458,7 +459,7 @@ BlockJob *backup_job_create(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
     }
 
     cbw = bdrv_cbw_append(bs, target, filter_node_name, discard_source,
-                          perf->min_cluster_size, &bcs, errp);
+                          perf->min_cluster_size, &bcs, on_cbw_error, errp);
     if (!cbw) {
         goto error;
     }
diff --git a/block/copy-before-write.c b/block/copy-before-write.c
index fd470f5f92..00af0b18ac 100644
--- a/block/copy-before-write.c
+++ b/block/copy-before-write.c
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_cbw_append(BlockDriverState *source,
                                   bool discard_source,
                                   uint64_t min_cluster_size,
                                   BlockCopyState **bcs,
+                                  OnCbwError on_cbw_error,
                                   Error **errp)
 {
     BDRVCopyBeforeWriteState *state;
@@ -568,6 +569,7 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_cbw_append(BlockDriverState *source,
     }
     qdict_put_str(opts, "file", bdrv_get_node_name(source));
     qdict_put_str(opts, "target", bdrv_get_node_name(target));
+    qdict_put_str(opts, "on-cbw-error", OnCbwError_str(on_cbw_error));
 
     if (min_cluster_size > INT64_MAX) {
         error_setg(errp, "min-cluster-size too large: %" PRIu64 " > %" PRIi64,
diff --git a/block/copy-before-write.h b/block/copy-before-write.h
index 2a5d4ba693..eb93364e85 100644
--- a/block/copy-before-write.h
+++ b/block/copy-before-write.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ BlockDriverState *bdrv_cbw_append(BlockDriverState *source,
                                   bool discard_source,
                                   uint64_t min_cluster_size,
                                   BlockCopyState **bcs,
+                                  OnCbwError on_cbw_error,
                                   Error **errp);
 void bdrv_cbw_drop(BlockDriverState *bs);
 
diff --git a/block/replication.c b/block/replication.c
index 0020f33843..748cf648ec 100644
--- a/block/replication.c
+++ b/block/replication.c
@@ -584,7 +584,9 @@ static void replication_start(ReplicationState *rs, ReplicationMode mode,
                                 0, MIRROR_SYNC_MODE_NONE, NULL, 0, false, false,
                                 NULL, &perf,
                                 BLOCKDEV_ON_ERROR_REPORT,
-                                BLOCKDEV_ON_ERROR_REPORT, JOB_INTERNAL,
+                                BLOCKDEV_ON_ERROR_REPORT,
+                                ON_CBW_ERROR_BREAK_GUEST_WRITE,
+                                JOB_INTERNAL,
                                 backup_job_completed, bs, NULL, &local_err);
         if (local_err) {
             error_propagate(errp, local_err);
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 1d1f27cfff..ae5d5d0f0b 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -2752,6 +2752,7 @@ static BlockJob *do_backup_common(BackupCommon *backup,
                             &perf,
                             backup->on_source_error,
                             backup->on_target_error,
+                            backup->has_on_cbw_error ? backup->on_cbw_error : ON_CBW_ERROR_BREAK_GUEST_WRITE,
                             job_flags, NULL, NULL, txn, errp);
     return job;
 }
diff --git a/include/block/block_int-global-state.h b/include/block/block_int-global-state.h
index eb2d92a226..0d93783763 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int-global-state.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int-global-state.h
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ void mirror_start(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
  *        all ".has_*" fields are ignored.
  * @on_source_error: The action to take upon error reading from the source.
  * @on_target_error: The action to take upon error writing to the target.
+ * @on_cbw_error: The action to take upon error in copy-before-write operations.
  * @creation_flags: Flags that control the behavior of the Job lifetime.
  *                  See @BlockJobCreateFlags
  * @cb: Completion function for the job.
@@ -198,6 +199,7 @@ BlockJob *backup_job_create(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
                             BackupPerf *perf,
                             BlockdevOnError on_source_error,
                             BlockdevOnError on_target_error,
+                            OnCbwError on_cbw_error,
                             int creation_flags,
                             BlockCompletionFunc *cb, void *opaque,
                             JobTxn *txn, Error **errp);
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index ee6eccc68c..d02e94907a 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -1622,6 +1622,9 @@
 # @discard-source: Discard blocks on source which have already been
 #     copied to the target.  (Since 9.1)
 #
+# @on-cbw-error: optional policy defining behavior on I/O errors in
+#     copy-before-write jobs; defaults to break-guest-write.  (Since 9.3)
+#
 # @x-perf: Performance options.  (Since 6.0)
 #
 # Features:
@@ -1641,6 +1644,7 @@
             '*compress': 'bool',
             '*on-source-error': 'BlockdevOnError',
             '*on-target-error': 'BlockdevOnError',
+            '*on-cbw-error': 'OnCbwError',
             '*auto-finalize': 'bool', '*auto-dismiss': 'bool',
             '*filter-node-name': 'str',
             '*discard-source': 'bool',
