diff --git a/include/spdk/jsonrpc.h b/include/spdk/jsonrpc.h
index 0ca85ea5f..7a7d21657 100644
--- a/include/spdk/jsonrpc.h
+++ b/include/spdk/jsonrpc.h
@@ -107,6 +107,20 @@ void spdk_jsonrpc_end_result(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request, struct spdk_j
 void spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 				      int error_code, const char *msg);
 
+/**
+ * Send an error response to a JSON-RPC request.
+ *
+ * \param request JSON-RPC request to respond to.
+ * \param error_code Integer error code to return (may be one of the SPDK_JSONRPC_ERROR_ errors,
+ *                   or a custom error code).
+ * \param fmt Printf-like format string.
+ *
+ * This is shorthand for printf() + spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response().
+ */
+void spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response_fmt(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
+		int error_code, const char *fmt, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 3, 4)));
+
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/jsonrpc/jsonrpc_server.c b/lib/jsonrpc/jsonrpc_server.c
index d7f564000..0d799d341 100644
--- a/lib/jsonrpc/jsonrpc_server.c
+++ b/lib/jsonrpc/jsonrpc_server.c
@@ -318,4 +318,35 @@ spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 	end_response(request, w);
 }
 
+void
+spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response_fmt(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
+				     int error_code, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w;
+	va_list args;
+
+	if (request->id.type == SPDK_JSON_VAL_INVALID) {
+		/* For error responses, if id is missing, explicitly respond with "id": null. */
+		request->id.type = SPDK_JSON_VAL_NULL;
+	}
+
+	w = begin_response(request);
+	if (w == NULL) {
+		free(request);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	spdk_json_write_name(w, "error");
+	spdk_json_write_object_begin(w);
+	spdk_json_write_name(w, "code");
+	spdk_json_write_int32(w, error_code);
+	spdk_json_write_name(w, "message");
+	va_start(args, fmt);
+	spdk_json_write_string_fmt_v(w, fmt, args);
+	va_end(args);
+	spdk_json_write_object_end(w);
+
+	end_response(request, w);
+}
+
 SPDK_LOG_REGISTER_COMPONENT("rpc", SPDK_LOG_RPC)