diff --git a/src/lxc/conf.c b/src/lxc/conf.c
index 62ea6ae54..74bf5178d 100644
--- a/src/lxc/conf.c
+++ b/src/lxc/conf.c
@@ -5566,9 +5566,19 @@ on_error:
 
 	/* Wait for child to finish. */
 	if (pid < 0)
-		return -1;
+		return log_error(-1, "Failed to create child process");
 
-	return wait_for_pid(pid);
+	ret = lxc_wait_for_pid_status(pid);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return syserror("Failed to wait on child process %d", pid);
+	if (WIFSIGNALED(ret))
+		return log_error(-1, "Child process %d terminated by signal %ld", pid, WTERMSIG(ret));
+	if (!WIFEXITED(ret))
+		return log_error(-1, "Child did not termiate correctly");
+	if (WEXITSTATUS(ret))
+		return log_error(-1, "Child terminated with error %ld", WEXITSTATUS(ret));
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /* not thread-safe, do not use from api without first forking */