diff --git a/gdk/linux-fb/gdkmain-fb.c b/gdk/linux-fb/gdkmain-fb.c
index 14167d618b..a00dd4c221 100644
--- a/gdk/linux-fb/gdkmain-fb.c
+++ b/gdk/linux-fb/gdkmain-fb.c
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ gdk_fb_display_new ()
   display->console_fd = open ("/dev/console", O_RDWR);
   if (display->console_fd < 0)
     {
-      g_warning ("Can't open /dev/console");
+      g_warning ("Can't open /dev/console: %s", strerror (display->console_fd));
       g_free (display);
       return NULL;
     }
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ gdk_fb_display_new ()
   display->tty_fd = open (buf, O_RDWR|O_NONBLOCK);
   if (display->tty_fd < 0)
     {
-      g_warning ("Can't open %s", buf);
+      g_warning ("Can't open %s: %s", buf, strerror (display->tty_fd));
       close (display->console_fd);
       g_free (display);
       return NULL;
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ gdk_fb_display_new ()
   display->fb_fd = open (fb_filename, O_RDWR);
   if (display->fb_fd < 0)
     {
-      g_warning ("Can't open %s", fb_filename);
+      g_warning ("Can't open %s: %s", fb_filename, strerror (display->fb_fd));
       g_free (fb_filename);
       close (display->tty_fd);
       close (display->console_fd);