diff --git a/plugins/synapticsmst/fu-plugin-synapticsmst.c b/plugins/synapticsmst/fu-plugin-synapticsmst.c
index c830472f2..656aa44cc 100644
--- a/plugins/synapticsmst/fu-plugin-synapticsmst.c
+++ b/plugins/synapticsmst/fu-plugin-synapticsmst.c
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ fu_plugin_synapticsmst_enumerate (FuPlugin *plugin,
 
 		/* If we open succesfully a device exists here */
 		device = synapticsmst_device_new (SYNAPTICSMST_DEVICE_KIND_DIRECT, aux_node, 0, 0);
-		if (!synapticsmst_device_open (device, NULL)) {
+		if (!synapticsmst_device_open (device, &error_local)) {
 			/* No device exists here, but was there - remove from DB */
 			if (fu_dev != NULL) {
 				g_debug ("Removing devices on %s", aux_node);
@@ -269,7 +269,8 @@ fu_plugin_synapticsmst_enumerate (FuPlugin *plugin,
 									aux_node);
 			} else {
 				/* Nothing to see here - move on*/
-				g_debug ("No device found on %s", aux_node);
+				g_debug ("No device found on %s: %s", aux_node, error_local->message);
+				g_clear_error (&error_local);
 			}
 			continue;
 		}
diff --git a/plugins/synapticsmst/synapticsmst-device.c b/plugins/synapticsmst/synapticsmst-device.c
index d691ecead..d164325e5 100644
--- a/plugins/synapticsmst/synapticsmst-device.c
+++ b/plugins/synapticsmst/synapticsmst-device.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 #include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <glib-object.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -174,9 +175,9 @@ synapticsmst_device_enable_remote_control (SynapticsMSTDevice *device, GError **
 		if (priv->fd == -1) {
 			g_set_error (error,
 				     G_IO_ERROR,
-				     G_IO_ERROR_PERMISSION_DENIED,
-				     "cannot open device %s",
-				     filename);
+				     g_io_error_from_errno (errno),
+				     "cannot open device %s: %s",
+				     filename, g_strerror (errno));
 			return FALSE;
 		}
 		return TRUE;
@@ -786,9 +787,9 @@ synapticsmst_device_open (SynapticsMSTDevice *device, GError **error)
 	if (priv->fd == -1) {
 		g_set_error (error,
 			     G_IO_ERROR,
-			     G_IO_ERROR_PERMISSION_DENIED,
-			     "cannot open device %s",
-			     filename);
+			     g_io_error_from_errno (errno),
+			     "cannot open device %s: %s",
+			     filename, g_strerror (errno));
 		return FALSE;
 	}