diff --git a/drivers/md/bcache/super.c b/drivers/md/bcache/super.c
index 95a4ca6ce6fff..6ada14b9a1579 100644
--- a/drivers/md/bcache/super.c
+++ b/drivers/md/bcache/super.c
@@ -1844,7 +1844,7 @@ static int register_cache(struct cache_sb *sb, struct page *sb_page,
 				struct block_device *bdev, struct cache *ca)
 {
 	char name[BDEVNAME_SIZE];
-	const char *err = NULL;
+	const char *err = NULL; /* must be set for any error case */
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	memcpy(&ca->sb, sb, sizeof(struct cache_sb));
@@ -1861,8 +1861,13 @@ static int register_cache(struct cache_sb *sb, struct page *sb_page,
 		ca->discard = CACHE_DISCARD(&ca->sb);
 
 	ret = cache_alloc(ca);
-	if (ret != 0)
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		if (ret == -ENOMEM)
+			err = "cache_alloc(): -ENOMEM";
+		else
+			err = "cache_alloc(): unknown error";
 		goto err;
+	}
 
 	if (kobject_add(&ca->kobj, &part_to_dev(bdev->bd_part)->kobj, "bcache")) {
 		err = "error calling kobject_add";