diff --git a/init/main.c b/init/main.c
index aa061ef17626..67ee8ef0a669 100644
--- a/init/main.c
+++ b/init/main.c
@@ -810,10 +810,26 @@ static int run_init_process(const char *init_filename)
 		(const char __user *const __user *)envp_init);
 }
 
+static int try_to_run_init_process(const char *init_filename)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = run_init_process(init_filename);
+
+	if (ret && ret != -ENOENT) {
+		pr_err("Starting init: %s exists but couldn't execute it (error %d)\n",
+		       init_filename, ret);
+	}
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static noinline void __init kernel_init_freeable(void);
 
 static int __ref kernel_init(void *unused)
 {
+	int ret;
+
 	kernel_init_freeable();
 	/* need to finish all async __init code before freeing the memory */
 	async_synchronize_full();
@@ -825,9 +841,11 @@ static int __ref kernel_init(void *unused)
 	flush_delayed_fput();
 
 	if (ramdisk_execute_command) {
-		if (!run_init_process(ramdisk_execute_command))
+		ret = run_init_process(ramdisk_execute_command);
+		if (!ret)
 			return 0;
-		pr_err("Failed to execute %s\n", ramdisk_execute_command);
+		pr_err("Failed to execute %s (error %d)\n",
+		       ramdisk_execute_command, ret);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -837,18 +855,19 @@ static int __ref kernel_init(void *unused)
 	 * trying to recover a really broken machine.
 	 */
 	if (execute_command) {
-		if (!run_init_process(execute_command))
+		ret = run_init_process(execute_command);
+		if (!ret)
 			return 0;
-		pr_err("Failed to execute %s.  Attempting defaults...\n",
-			execute_command);
+		pr_err("Failed to execute %s (error %d).  Attempting defaults...\n",
+			execute_command, ret);
 	}
-	if (!run_init_process("/sbin/init") ||
-	    !run_init_process("/etc/init") ||
-	    !run_init_process("/bin/init") ||
-	    !run_init_process("/bin/sh"))
+	if (!try_to_run_init_process("/sbin/init") ||
+	    !try_to_run_init_process("/etc/init") ||
+	    !try_to_run_init_process("/bin/init") ||
+	    !try_to_run_init_process("/bin/sh"))
 		return 0;
 
-	panic("No init found.  Try passing init= option to kernel. "
+	panic("No working init found.  Try passing init= option to kernel. "
 	      "See Linux Documentation/init.txt for guidance.");
 }