diff --git a/libs/ardour/linux_vst_support.cc b/libs/ardour/linux_vst_support.cc
index 8903c7c965..be894f5fb9 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/linux_vst_support.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/linux_vst_support.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (C) 2012-2016 Paul Davis <paul@linuxaudiosystems.com>
- * Copyright (C) 2013-2017 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
+ * Copyright (C) 2013-2021 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ static void* vstfx_load_vst_library(const char* path)
 	}
 
 	if (Glib::file_test (path, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
-		PBD::error << string_compose (_("Could not open existing LXVST plugin: %1"), dlerror()) << endmsg;
+		PBD::error << string_compose (_("Could not load VST2 plugin '%1': %2"), path, dlerror ()) << endmsg;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -149,11 +149,11 @@ static void* vstfx_load_vst_library(const char* path)
 
 		/*Try and load the library*/
 
-		if ((dll = dlopen(full_path, RTLD_LOCAL | RTLD_LAZY)) != 0)
-		{
+		if ((dll = dlopen(full_path, RTLD_LOCAL | RTLD_LAZY)) != 0) {
 			/*Succeeded */
 			break;
 		}
+		PBD::error << string_compose (_("Could not load VST2 plugin '%1': %2"), full_path, dlerror ()) << endmsg;
 
 		/*Try again*/
 
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ vstfx_load (const char *path)
 
 	if (fhandle->main_entry == 0)
 	{
+		PBD::error << string_compose (_("Missing entry method in VST2 plugin '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
 		/*If it can't be found, unload the plugin and return a 0 handle*/
 
 		vstfx_unload (fhandle);
diff --git a/libs/ardour/mac_vst_support.cc b/libs/ardour/mac_vst_support.cc
index e9502ebf2e..0cc391aeb7 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/mac_vst_support.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/mac_vst_support.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2016-2017 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
+ * Copyright (C) 2016-2021 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ mac_vst_load (const char *path)
 	}
 
 	if (fhandle->main_entry == 0) {
+		PBD::error << string_compose (_("Missing entry method in VST2 plugin '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
 		mac_vst_unload (fhandle);
 		return 0;
 	}
diff --git a/libs/ardour/vst2_scan.cc b/libs/ardour/vst2_scan.cc
index 8e8500f9e6..f493194e77 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/vst2_scan.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/vst2_scan.cc
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ vst2_unload (VSTHandle* h, ARDOUR::PluginType type)
 }
 
 static VSTHandle*
-vstfx_load (const char* dllpath, ARDOUR::PluginType type)
+vst2_load (const char* dllpath, ARDOUR::PluginType type)
 {
 	VSTHandle* h = NULL;
 	switch (type) {
@@ -523,10 +523,10 @@ vstfx_info_from_plugin (VSTHandle* h, VSTState* vstfx, vector<ARDOUR::VST2Info>&
 static bool
 discover_vst2 (std::string const& path, ARDOUR::PluginType type, std::vector<ARDOUR::VST2Info>& rv, bool verbose)
 {
-	VSTHandle* h = vstfx_load (path.c_str (), type);
+	VSTHandle* h = vst2_load (path.c_str (), type);
 
 	if (!h) {
-		PBD::warning << string_compose (_("Cannot get load VST plugin from '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
+		PBD::warning << string_compose (_("Cannot open VST2 module '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ ARDOUR::vst2_scan_and_cache (std::string const& path, ARDOUR::PluginType type, b
 			return false;
 		}
 		if (nfo.empty ()) {
-			cerr << "No plugins in VST2 plugin: '" << path << "'\n";
+			PBD::warning << string_compose (_("No plugins in VST2 module '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
 			delete root;
 			return false;
 		}
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ ARDOUR::vst2_scan_and_cache (std::string const& path, ARDOUR::PluginType type, b
 			root->add_child_nocopy (i->state ());
 		}
 	} catch (...) {
-		cerr << "Cannot load VST2 plugin: '" << path << "'\n";
+		PBD::warning << string_compose (_("Cannot load VST plugin '%1'"), path) << endmsg;
 		delete root;
 		return false;
 	}
diff --git a/libs/fst/vstwin.c b/libs/fst/vstwin.c
index f8783fcc9d..5921e15747 100644
--- a/libs/fst/vstwin.c
+++ b/libs/fst/vstwin.c
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * Copyright (C) 2006-2010 Paul Davis <paul@linuxaudiosystems.com>
  * Copyright (C) 2010-2011 Carl Hetherington <carl@carlh.net>
  * Copyright (C) 2014-2016 John Emmas <john@creativepost.co.uk>
- * Copyright (C) 2014-2017 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
+ * Copyright (C) 2014-2021 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ fst_load (const char *path)
 
 		// See if we can load the plugin DLL
 		if ((fhandle->dll = (HMODULE)fst_load_vst_library (path)) == NULL) {
+			fst_error ("fst_load(): Cannot open plugin dll\n");
 			fst_unload (&fhandle);
 			return NULL;
 		}
@@ -421,6 +422,7 @@ fst_load (const char *path)
 		}
 
 		if (fhandle->main_entry == 0) {
+			fst_error ("fst_load(): Missing entry method in VST2 plugin\n");
 			fst_unload (&fhandle);
 			return NULL;
 		}