diff --git a/hw/qdev.c b/hw/qdev.c
index 86cf81be9b..b2d11cebba 100644
--- a/hw/qdev.c
+++ b/hw/qdev.c
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ DeviceState *qdev_device_add(QemuOpts *opts)
         return NULL;
     }
     if (qdev_init(qdev) != 0) {
+        qemu_error("Error initializing device %s\n", driver);
         qdev_free(qdev);
         return NULL;
     }