diff --git a/src/core/rawlog.c b/src/core/rawlog.c
index 2192e256..d929682a 100644
--- a/src/core/rawlog.c
+++ b/src/core/rawlog.c
@@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ void rawlog_open(RAWLOG_REC *rawlog, const char *fname)
 	path = convert_home(fname);
 	rawlog->handle = open(path, O_WRONLY | O_APPEND | O_CREAT,
 			      log_file_create_mode);
+	if (rawlog->handle == -1) {
+		g_warning("rawlog open() failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+	}
 	g_free(path);
 
 	rawlog_dump(rawlog, rawlog->handle);