diff --git a/src/bpftune.c b/src/bpftune.c
index 50f141b..49f9a6e 100644
--- a/src/bpftune.c
+++ b/src/bpftune.c
@@ -399,9 +399,10 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	bpftune_cap_drop();
 
-	if (init(BPFTUNER_LIB_DIR)) {
-		bpftune_log(LOG_ERR, "could not initialize tuners in '%s'\n",
-			    BPFTUNER_LIB_DIR);
+	err = init(BPFTUNER_LIB_DIR);
+	if (err) {
+		bpftune_log(LOG_ERR, "could not initialize tuners in '%s': %s\n",
+			    BPFTUNER_LIB_DIR, strerror(-err));
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 	/* optional dir absence will not trigger failure */
diff --git a/src/libbpftune.c b/src/libbpftune.c
index 257d19c..931b8bb 100644
--- a/src/libbpftune.c
+++ b/src/libbpftune.c
@@ -588,8 +588,16 @@ int __bpftuner_bpf_load(struct bpftuner *tuner, const char **optionals)
 	}
 	err = bpf_object__load_skeleton(tuner->skeleton);
 	if (err) {
-		bpftune_log_bpf_err(err, "could not load skeleton: %s\n");
-		goto out;
+		switch (err) {
+		case -ESRCH:
+			bpftune_log(LOG_ERR, "tuner '%s' failed to load, tracing target was not found; this can occur for unstable tracing targets like kernel functions.\n",
+				    tuner->name);
+			goto out;
+		default:
+			bpftune_log(LOG_ERR, "BPF load for tuner '%s; failed: '%s': %s\n",
+				    tuner->name, strerror(-err));
+			goto out;
+		}
 	}
 
 	bpftuner_map_init(tuner, "ring_buffer_map", &tuner->ring_buffer_map,