diff --git a/tests/uitests/test_details.py b/tests/uitests/test_details.py
index c2c9b8ea9..9907021e6 100644
--- a/tests/uitests/test_details.py
+++ b/tests/uitests/test_details.py
@@ -674,6 +674,7 @@ def testDetailsMiscEdits(app):
     Test misc editing behavior, like checking for unapplied
     changes
     """
+    app.open(extra_opts=["--test-options=test-update-device-fail"])
     win = app.manager_open_details("test-many-devices")
     hwlist = win.find("hw-list")
 
diff --git a/tests/uitests/test_mediachange.py b/tests/uitests/test_mediachange.py
index 917dfad3c..475702403 100644
--- a/tests/uitests/test_mediachange.py
+++ b/tests/uitests/test_mediachange.py
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ def testMediaHotplug(app):
     Test in the case of a running VM
     """
     vmname = "test-many-devices"
-    app.open(show_console=vmname)
+    app.open(show_console=vmname,
+             extra_opts=["--test-options=test-update-device-fail"])
     win = app.find_details_window(vmname, click_details=True)
     hw = win.find("hw-list")
     entry = win.find("media-entry")
diff --git a/virtManager/lib/testmock.py b/virtManager/lib/testmock.py
index d2ee6972c..74bcce20e 100644
--- a/virtManager/lib/testmock.py
+++ b/virtManager/lib/testmock.py
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ class CLITestOptionsClass:
         managed save issues
 
     * test-vm-run-fail: Make VM run fail, so we can test the error path
+    * test-update-device-fail: Make UpdateDevice API call fail
 
     * spice-agent: Make spice-agent detection return true in viewer.py
 
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ class CLITestOptionsClass:
         self.enable_libguestfs = _get("enable-libguestfs")
         self.test_managed_save = _get("test-managed-save")
         self.test_vm_run_fail = _get("test-vm-run-fail")
+        self.test_update_device_fail = _get("test-update-device-fail")
         self.spice_agent = _get("spice-agent")
         self.firstrun_uri = _get_value("firstrun-uri")
         self.fake_vnc_username = _get("fake-vnc-username")
diff --git a/virtManager/object/domain.py b/virtManager/object/domain.py
index e5a81edd0..85610662b 100644
--- a/virtManager/object/domain.py
+++ b/virtManager/object/domain.py
@@ -1083,6 +1083,9 @@ class vmmDomain(vmmLibvirtObject):
 
         xml = devobj.get_xml()
         log.debug("update_device with xml=\n%s", xml)
+
+        if self.config.CLITestOptions.test_update_device_fail:
+            raise RuntimeError("fake update device failure")
         self._backend.updateDeviceFlags(xml, flags)
 
     def hotplug(self, memory=_SENTINEL, maxmem=_SENTINEL,