diff --git a/drivers/iommu/amd/iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/amd/iommu.c
index 840831d5d2ad..ad499658a6b6 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/amd/iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/amd/iommu.c
@@ -1662,7 +1662,7 @@ static int attach_device(struct device *dev,
 	if (domain->flags & PD_IOMMUV2_MASK) {
 		struct iommu_domain *def_domain = iommu_get_dma_domain(dev);
 
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		if (def_domain->type != IOMMU_DOMAIN_IDENTITY)
 			goto out;
 
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/apple-dart.c b/drivers/iommu/apple-dart.c
index 8af0242a90d9..e58dc310afd7 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/apple-dart.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/apple-dart.c
@@ -495,10 +495,10 @@ static int apple_dart_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 
 	if (cfg->stream_maps[0].dart->force_bypass &&
 	    domain->type != IOMMU_DOMAIN_IDENTITY)
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 	if (!cfg->stream_maps[0].dart->supports_bypass &&
 	    domain->type == IOMMU_DOMAIN_IDENTITY)
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 
 	ret = apple_dart_finalize_domain(domain, cfg);
 	if (ret)
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
index 88817a3376ef..5b64138f549d 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu-v3/arm-smmu-v3.c
@@ -2420,24 +2420,15 @@ static int arm_smmu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev)
 			goto out_unlock;
 		}
 	} else if (smmu_domain->smmu != smmu) {
-		dev_err(dev,
-			"cannot attach to SMMU %s (upstream of %s)\n",
-			dev_name(smmu_domain->smmu->dev),
-			dev_name(smmu->dev));
-		ret = -ENXIO;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		goto out_unlock;
 	} else if (smmu_domain->stage == ARM_SMMU_DOMAIN_S1 &&
 		   master->ssid_bits != smmu_domain->s1_cfg.s1cdmax) {
-		dev_err(dev,
-			"cannot attach to incompatible domain (%u SSID bits != %u)\n",
-			smmu_domain->s1_cfg.s1cdmax, master->ssid_bits);
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		goto out_unlock;
 	} else if (smmu_domain->stage == ARM_SMMU_DOMAIN_S1 &&
 		   smmu_domain->stall_enabled != master->stall_enabled) {
-		dev_err(dev, "cannot attach to stall-%s domain\n",
-			smmu_domain->stall_enabled ? "enabled" : "disabled");
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		goto out_unlock;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/arm-smmu.c b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/arm-smmu.c
index 2ed3594f384e..4b95673be076 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/arm-smmu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/arm-smmu.c
@@ -1167,10 +1167,7 @@ static int arm_smmu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev)
 	 * different SMMUs.
 	 */
 	if (smmu_domain->smmu != smmu) {
-		dev_err(dev,
-			"cannot attach to SMMU %s whilst already attached to domain on SMMU %s\n",
-			dev_name(smmu_domain->smmu->dev), dev_name(smmu->dev));
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		goto rpm_put;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/qcom_iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/qcom_iommu.c
index 4c077c38fbd6..8372f985c14a 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/qcom_iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/arm/arm-smmu/qcom_iommu.c
@@ -381,13 +381,8 @@ static int qcom_iommu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev
 	 * Sanity check the domain. We don't support domains across
 	 * different IOMMUs.
 	 */
-	if (qcom_domain->iommu != qcom_iommu) {
-		dev_err(dev, "cannot attach to IOMMU %s while already "
-			"attached to domain on IOMMU %s\n",
-			dev_name(qcom_domain->iommu->dev),
-			dev_name(qcom_iommu->dev));
-		return -EINVAL;
-	}
+	if (qcom_domain->iommu != qcom_iommu)
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/intel/iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/intel/iommu.c
index 44016594831d..db5fb799e350 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/intel/iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/intel/iommu.c
@@ -4323,19 +4323,15 @@ static int prepare_domain_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	if (dmar_domain->force_snooping && !ecap_sc_support(iommu->ecap))
-		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 
 	/* check if this iommu agaw is sufficient for max mapped address */
 	addr_width = agaw_to_width(iommu->agaw);
 	if (addr_width > cap_mgaw(iommu->cap))
 		addr_width = cap_mgaw(iommu->cap);
 
-	if (dmar_domain->max_addr > (1LL << addr_width)) {
-		dev_err(dev, "%s: iommu width (%d) is not "
-		        "sufficient for the mapped address (%llx)\n",
-		        __func__, addr_width, dmar_domain->max_addr);
-		return -EFAULT;
-	}
+	if (dmar_domain->max_addr > (1LL << addr_width))
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 	dmar_domain->gaw = addr_width;
 
 	/*
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/iommu.c
index 847ad47a2dfd..5b0afe39275e 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/iommu.c
@@ -1972,6 +1972,20 @@ static int __iommu_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/**
+ * iommu_attach_device - Attach a device to an IOMMU domain
+ * @domain: IOMMU domain to attach
+ * @dev: Device that will be attached
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success and error code on failure
+ *
+ * Specifically, -EMEDIUMTYPE is returned as a soft failure if the domain and
+ * the device are incompatible in some way. This indicates that a caller should
+ * try another existing IOMMU domain or allocate a new one. And note that it's
+ * recommended to keep kernel print free when reporting -EMEDIUMTYPE error, as
+ * this function can be called to test compatibility with domains that will fail
+ * the test, which will result in a kernel log spam.
+ */
 int iommu_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev)
 {
 	struct iommu_group *group;
@@ -2098,6 +2112,20 @@ static int __iommu_attach_group(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/**
+ * iommu_attach_group - Attach an IOMMU group to an IOMMU domain
+ * @domain: IOMMU domain to attach
+ * @group: IOMMU group that will be attached
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success and error code on failure
+ *
+ * Specifically, -EMEDIUMTYPE is returned as a soft failure if the domain and
+ * the device are incompatible in some way. This indicates that a caller should
+ * try another existing IOMMU domain or allocate a new one. And note that it's
+ * recommended to keep kernel print free when reporting -EMEDIUMTYPE error, as
+ * this function can be called to test compatibility with domains that will fail
+ * the test, which will result in a kernel log spam.
+ */
 int iommu_attach_group(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct iommu_group *group)
 {
 	int ret;
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/ipmmu-vmsa.c b/drivers/iommu/ipmmu-vmsa.c
index 8fdb84b3642b..82d63394b166 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/ipmmu-vmsa.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/ipmmu-vmsa.c
@@ -628,9 +628,7 @@ static int ipmmu_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *io_domain,
 		 * Something is wrong, we can't attach two devices using
 		 * different IOMMUs to the same domain.
 		 */
-		dev_err(dev, "Can't attach IPMMU %s to domain on IPMMU %s\n",
-			dev_name(mmu->dev), dev_name(domain->mmu->dev));
-		ret = -EINVAL;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 	} else
 		dev_info(dev, "Reusing IPMMU context %u\n", domain->context_id);
 
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/omap-iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/omap-iommu.c
index d9cf2820c02e..6bc8925726bf 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/omap-iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/omap-iommu.c
@@ -1471,8 +1471,7 @@ omap_iommu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev)
 
 	/* only a single client device can be attached to a domain */
 	if (omap_domain->dev) {
-		dev_err(dev, "iommu domain is already attached\n");
-		ret = -EBUSY;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		goto out;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/s390-iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/s390-iommu.c
index c898bcbbce11..ddcb78b284bb 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/s390-iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/s390-iommu.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ static int s390_iommu_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 	/* Allow only devices with identical DMA range limits */
 	} else if (domain->geometry.aperture_start != zdev->start_dma ||
 		   domain->geometry.aperture_end != zdev->end_dma) {
-		rc = -EINVAL;
+		rc = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&s390_domain->list_lock, flags);
 		goto out_restore;
 	}
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/sprd-iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/sprd-iommu.c
index bd409bab6286..f6ae230ca1cd 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/sprd-iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/sprd-iommu.c
@@ -237,10 +237,8 @@ static int sprd_iommu_attach_device(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 	struct sprd_iommu_domain *dom = to_sprd_domain(domain);
 	size_t pgt_size = sprd_iommu_pgt_size(domain);
 
-	if (dom->sdev) {
-		pr_err("There's already a device attached to this domain.\n");
-		return -EINVAL;
-	}
+	if (dom->sdev)
+		return -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 
 	dom->pgt_va = dma_alloc_coherent(sdev->dev, pgt_size, &dom->pgt_pa, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!dom->pgt_va)
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/tegra-gart.c b/drivers/iommu/tegra-gart.c
index a6700a40a6f8..011c33e6ae31 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/tegra-gart.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/tegra-gart.c
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ static int gart_iommu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain,
 	spin_lock(&gart->dom_lock);
 
 	if (gart->active_domain && gart->active_domain != domain) {
-		ret = -EBUSY;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 	} else if (dev_iommu_priv_get(dev) != domain) {
 		dev_iommu_priv_set(dev, domain);
 		gart->active_domain = domain;
diff --git a/drivers/iommu/virtio-iommu.c b/drivers/iommu/virtio-iommu.c
index 25be4b822aa0..a41a62dccb4d 100644
--- a/drivers/iommu/virtio-iommu.c
+++ b/drivers/iommu/virtio-iommu.c
@@ -733,8 +733,7 @@ static int viommu_attach_dev(struct iommu_domain *domain, struct device *dev)
 		 */
 		ret = viommu_domain_finalise(vdev, domain);
 	} else if (vdomain->viommu != vdev->viommu) {
-		dev_err(dev, "cannot attach to foreign vIOMMU\n");
-		ret = -EXDEV;
+		ret = -EMEDIUMTYPE;
 	}
 	mutex_unlock(&vdomain->mutex);
 
