diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
index a6d4a0010..2d4599f11 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
@@ -580,7 +580,7 @@ bdev_aio_group_destroy_cb(void *io_device, void *ctx_buf)
 	spdk_poller_unregister(&ch->poller);
 }
 
-struct spdk_bdev *
+int
 create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 {
 	struct file_disk *fdisk;
@@ -591,16 +591,18 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 	fdisk = calloc(1, sizeof(*fdisk));
 	if (!fdisk) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to allocate enough memory for aio backend\n");
-		return NULL;
+		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
 	fdisk->filename = strdup(filename);
 	if (!fdisk->filename) {
+		rc = -ENOMEM;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
 	if (bdev_aio_open(fdisk)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to open file %s. fd: %d errno: %d\n", filename, fdisk->fd, errno);
+		rc = -errno;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
@@ -608,6 +610,7 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 
 	fdisk->disk.name = strdup(name);
 	if (!fdisk->disk.name) {
+		rc = -ENOMEM;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 	fdisk->disk.product_name = "AIO disk";
@@ -620,6 +623,7 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 		/* User did not specify block size - use autodetected block size. */
 		if (detected_block_size == 0) {
 			SPDK_ERRLOG("Block size could not be auto-detected\n");
+			rc = -EINVAL;
 			goto error_return;
 		}
 		fdisk->block_size_override = false;
@@ -629,6 +633,7 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 			SPDK_ERRLOG("Specified block size %" PRIu32 " is smaller than "
 				    "auto-detected block size %" PRIu32 "\n",
 				    block_size, detected_block_size);
+			rc = -EINVAL;
 			goto error_return;
 		} else if (detected_block_size != 0 && block_size != detected_block_size) {
 			SPDK_WARNLOG("Specified block size %" PRIu32 " does not match "
@@ -640,11 +645,13 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 
 	if (block_size < 512) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Invalid block size %" PRIu32 " (must be at least 512).\n", block_size);
+		rc = -EINVAL;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
 	if (!spdk_u32_is_pow2(block_size)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Invalid block size %" PRIu32 " (must be a power of 2.)\n", block_size);
+		rc = -EINVAL;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
@@ -654,6 +661,7 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 	if (disk_size % fdisk->disk.blocklen != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Disk size %" PRIu64 " is not a multiple of block size %" PRIu32 "\n",
 			    disk_size, fdisk->disk.blocklen);
+		rc = -EINVAL;
 		goto error_return;
 	}
 
@@ -672,12 +680,12 @@ create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 	}
 
 	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&g_aio_disk_head, fdisk, link);
-	return &fdisk->disk;
+	return 0;
 
 error_return:
 	bdev_aio_close(fdisk);
 	aio_free_disk(fdisk);
-	return NULL;
+	return rc;
 }
 
 struct delete_aio_bdev_ctx {
@@ -720,7 +728,7 @@ bdev_aio_initialize(void)
 {
 	size_t i;
 	struct spdk_conf_section *sp;
-	struct spdk_bdev *bdev;
+	int rc = 0;
 
 	TAILQ_INIT(&g_aio_disk_head);
 	spdk_io_device_register(&aio_if, bdev_aio_group_create_cb, bdev_aio_group_destroy_cb,
@@ -763,9 +771,9 @@ bdev_aio_initialize(void)
 			block_size = (uint32_t)tmp;
 		}
 
-		bdev = create_aio_bdev(name, file, block_size);
-		if (!bdev) {
-			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to create AIO bdev from file %s\n", file);
+		rc = create_aio_bdev(name, file, block_size);
+		if (rc) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to create AIO bdev from file %s, err is %s\n", file, spdk_strerror(-rc));
 			i++;
 			continue;
 		}
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
index eed26e3f1..da7415a53 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 typedef void (*delete_aio_bdev_complete)(void *cb_arg, int bdeverrno);
 
-struct spdk_bdev *create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size);
+int create_aio_bdev(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size);
 
 void delete_aio_bdev(struct spdk_bdev *bdev, delete_aio_bdev_complete cb_fn, void *cb_arg);
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
index 76d436127..bec65d044 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio_rpc.c
@@ -62,37 +62,40 @@ spdk_rpc_construct_aio_bdev(struct spdk_jsonrpc_request *request,
 {
 	struct rpc_construct_aio req = {};
 	struct spdk_json_write_ctx *w;
-	struct spdk_bdev *bdev;
+	int rc = 0;
 
 	if (spdk_json_decode_object(params, rpc_construct_aio_decoders,
 				    SPDK_COUNTOF(rpc_construct_aio_decoders),
 				    &req)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("spdk_json_decode_object failed\n");
+		rc = -EINVAL;
 		goto invalid;
 	}
 
 	if (req.filename == NULL) {
+		rc = -EINVAL;
 		goto invalid;
 	}
 
-	bdev = create_aio_bdev(req.name, req.filename, req.block_size);
-	if (bdev == NULL) {
+	rc = create_aio_bdev(req.name, req.filename, req.block_size);
+	if (rc) {
 		goto invalid;
 	}
 
-	free_rpc_construct_aio(&req);
 
 	w = spdk_jsonrpc_begin_result(request);
 	if (w == NULL) {
-		return;
+		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
-	spdk_json_write_string(w, spdk_bdev_get_name(bdev));
+	spdk_json_write_string(w, req.name);
 	spdk_jsonrpc_end_result(request, w);
-	return;
+
+	goto cleanup;
 
 invalid:
-	spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(request, SPDK_JSONRPC_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMS, "Invalid parameters");
+	spdk_jsonrpc_send_error_response(request, SPDK_JSONRPC_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMS, spdk_strerror(-rc));
+cleanup:
 	free_rpc_construct_aio(&req);
 }
 SPDK_RPC_REGISTER("construct_aio_bdev", spdk_rpc_construct_aio_bdev, SPDK_RPC_RUNTIME)