diff --git a/drivers/core/device.c b/drivers/core/device.c
index a6cd93698f..0ccd443f25 100644
--- a/drivers/core/device.c
+++ b/drivers/core/device.c
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@ int device_bind(struct udevice *parent, const struct driver *drv,
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	ret = uclass_get(drv->id, &uc);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
+		debug("Missing uclass for driver %s\n", drv->name);
 		return ret;
+	}
 
 	dev = calloc(1, sizeof(struct udevice));
 	if (!dev)
diff --git a/drivers/core/uclass.c b/drivers/core/uclass.c
index f63ff599a6..e800c28653 100644
--- a/drivers/core/uclass.c
+++ b/drivers/core/uclass.c
@@ -58,7 +58,12 @@ static int uclass_add(enum uclass_id id, struct uclass **ucp)
 	if (!uc_drv) {
 		debug("Cannot find uclass for id %d: please add the UCLASS_DRIVER() declaration for this UCLASS_... id\n",
 		      id);
-		return -ENOENT;
+		/*
+		 * Use a strange error to make this case easier to find. When
+		 * a uclass is not available it can prevent driver model from
+		 * starting up and this failure is otherwise hard to debug.
+		 */
+		return -EPFNOSUPPORT;
 	}
 	uc = calloc(1, sizeof(*uc));
 	if (!uc)