diff --git a/libs/pbd/pbd/abstract_ui.cc b/libs/pbd/pbd/abstract_ui.cc
index cd745f0331..201e50d9d7 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/pbd/abstract_ui.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/pbd/abstract_ui.cc
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::AbstractUI (const string& name)
 }
 
 template <typename RequestObject> void
-AbstractUI<RequestObject>::register_thread (string target_gui, pthread_t thread_id, string /*thread name*/, uint32_t num_requests)
+AbstractUI<RequestObject>::register_thread (string target_gui, pthread_t thread_id, string thread_name, uint32_t num_requests)
 {
 	/* the calling thread wants to register with the thread that runs this
 	 * UI's event loop, so that it will have its own per-thread queue of
@@ -83,10 +83,13 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::register_thread (string target_gui, pthread_t thread_
 	 * do so in a realtime-safe manner (no locks).
 	 */
 
-	if (target_gui != name()) {
+ 	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("in %1 (thread name %4), %2 (%5) wants to register with %3\n", event_loop_name(), thread_name, target_gui, pthread_name(), pthread_self()));
+
+	if (target_gui != event_loop_name()) {
 		/* this UI is not the UI that the calling thread is trying to
 		   register with
 		*/
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1 : not the registration target\n", event_loop_name()));
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -101,11 +104,14 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::register_thread (string target_gui, pthread_t thread_
 	if (b) {
 		/* thread already registered with this UI
 		*/
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1 : %2 is already registered\n", event_loop_name(), thread_name));
 		return;
 	}
 
 	/* create a new request queue/ringbuffer */
 
+	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("create new request buffer for %1 in %2\n", thread_name, event_loop_name()));
+
 	b = new RequestBuffer (num_requests, *this);
 
 	{
@@ -151,11 +157,11 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::get_request (RequestType rt)
 		rbuf->get_write_vector (&vec);
 
 		if (vec.len[0] == 0) {
-			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: no space in per thread pool for request of type %2\n", name(), rt));
+			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: no space in per thread pool for request of type %2\n", event_loop_name(), rt));
 			return 0;
 		}
 
-		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: allocated per-thread request of type %2, caller %3\n", name(), rt, pthread_name()));
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: allocated per-thread request of type %2, caller %3\n", event_loop_name(), rt, pthread_name()));
 
 		vec.buf[0]->type = rt;
 		vec.buf[0]->valid = true;
@@ -167,7 +173,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::get_request (RequestType rt)
 	 * are not at work.
 	 */
 
-	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: allocated normal heap request of type %2, caller %3\n", name(), rt, pthread_name()));
+	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1: allocated normal heap request of type %2, caller %3\n", event_loop_name(), rt, pthread_name()));
 
 	RequestObject* req = new RequestObject;
 	req->type = rt;
@@ -222,7 +228,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::handle_ui_requests ()
 	for (i = request_buffers.begin(); i != request_buffers.end(); ) {
 		if ((*i).second->dead) {
 			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 deleting dead per-thread request buffer for %3 @ %4\n",
-						name(), pthread_name(), i->second));
+			                                                     event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), i->second));
 			delete (*i).second;
 			RequestBufferMapIterator tmp = i;
 			++tmp;
@@ -250,7 +256,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::handle_ui_requests ()
 
 		request_buffer_map_lock.lock ();
 		if (!req->valid) {
-			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 handling invalid heap request, type %3, deleting\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 handling invalid heap request, type %3, deleting\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 			delete req;
 			request_buffer_map_lock.unlock ();
 			continue;
@@ -262,7 +268,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::handle_ui_requests ()
 		 */
 
 		if (req->invalidation) {
-			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 remove request from its invalidation list\n", name(), pthread_name()));
+			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 remove request from its invalidation list\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name()));
 
 			/* after this call, if the object referenced by the
 			 * invalidation record is deleted, it will no longer
@@ -290,7 +296,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::handle_ui_requests ()
 
 		lm.release ();
 
-		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 execute request type %3\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 execute request type %3\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 
 		/* and lets do it ... this is a virtual call so that each
 		 * specific type of UI can have its own set of requests without
@@ -299,7 +305,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::handle_ui_requests ()
 
 		do_request (req);
 
-		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 delete heap request type %3\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 delete heap request type %3\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 		delete req;
 
 		/* re-acquire the list lock so that we check again */
@@ -324,7 +330,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::send_request (RequestObject *req)
 		/* the thread that runs this UI's event loop is sending itself
 		   a request: we dispatch it immediately and inline.
 		*/
-		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 direct dispatch of request type %3\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 direct dispatch of request type %3\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 		do_request (req);
 		delete req;
 	} else {
@@ -344,13 +350,13 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::send_request (RequestObject *req)
 		RequestBuffer* rbuf = per_thread_request_buffer.get ();
 
 		if (rbuf != 0) {
-			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 send per-thread request type %3\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 send per-thread request type %3\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 			rbuf->increment_write_ptr (1);
 		} else {
 			/* no per-thread buffer, so just use a list with a lock so that it remains
 			   single-reader/single-writer semantics
 			*/
-			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 send heap request type %3\n", name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
+			DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 send heap request type %3\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), req->type));
 			Glib::Threads::Mutex::Lock lm (request_list_lock);
 			request_list.push_back (req);
 		}
@@ -367,7 +373,7 @@ template<typename RequestObject> void
 AbstractUI<RequestObject>::call_slot (InvalidationRecord* invalidation, const boost::function<void()>& f)
 {
 	if (caller_is_self()) {
-		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 direct dispatch of call slot via functor @ %3, invalidation %4\n", name(), pthread_name(), &f, invalidation));
+		DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 direct dispatch of call slot via functor @ %3, invalidation %4\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), &f, invalidation));
 		f ();
 		return;
 	}
@@ -378,7 +384,7 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::call_slot (InvalidationRecord* invalidation, const bo
 		return;
 	}
 
-	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 queue call-slot using functor @ %3, invalidation %4\n", name(), pthread_name(), &f, invalidation));
+	DEBUG_TRACE (PBD::DEBUG::AbstractUI, string_compose ("%1/%2 queue call-slot using functor @ %3, invalidation %4\n", event_loop_name(), pthread_name(), &f, invalidation));
 
 	/* copy semantics: copy the functor into the request object */
 
@@ -401,4 +407,3 @@ AbstractUI<RequestObject>::call_slot (InvalidationRecord* invalidation, const bo
 
 	send_request (req);
 }
-