diff --git a/modules/lua/lua_vmprep.c b/modules/lua/lua_vmprep.c
index 8e4c319650..2adad2efa6 100644
--- a/modules/lua/lua_vmprep.c
+++ b/modules/lua/lua_vmprep.c
@@ -325,7 +325,31 @@ AP_LUA_DECLARE(lua_State*)ap_lua_get_lua_state(apr_pool_t *lifecycle_pool,
             lua_pcall(L, 0, LUA_MULTRET, 0);
         }
         else {
-            luaL_loadfile(L, spec->file);
+            int rc;
+            ap_log_perror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG, 0, lifecycle_pool,
+                          "loading lua file %s", spec->file);
+            rc = luaL_loadfile(L, spec->file);
+            if (rc != 0) {
+                char *err;
+                switch (rc) {
+                case LUA_ERRSYNTAX: 
+                    err = "syntax error"; 
+                    break;
+                case LUA_ERRMEM:    
+                    err = "memory allocation error"; 
+                    break;
+                case LUA_ERRFILE:   
+                    err = "error opening or reading file"; 
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    err = "unknown error"; 
+                    break;
+                }
+                ap_log_perror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, 0, lifecycle_pool,
+                              "Loading lua file %s: %s",
+                              spec->file, err);
+                return NULL;
+            }
             lua_pcall(L, 0, LUA_MULTRET, 0);
         }