diff --git a/src/audio/dsp/SDL_dspaudio.c b/src/audio/dsp/SDL_dspaudio.c
index 8d4ee9435..531612a29 100644
--- a/src/audio/dsp/SDL_dspaudio.c
+++ b/src/audio/dsp/SDL_dspaudio.c
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ DSP_Init(SDL_AudioDriverImpl * impl)
     InitTimeDevicesExist = SDL_FALSE;
     SDL_EnumUnixAudioDevices(0, look_for_devices_test);
     if (!InitTimeDevicesExist) {
+        SDL_SetError("dsp: No such audio device");
         return SDL_FALSE;  /* maybe try a different backend. */
     }