diff --git a/drivers/platform/surface/aggregator/core.c b/drivers/platform/surface/aggregator/core.c
index 9591a28bc38a9..4e2e70f4dcf51 100644
--- a/drivers/platform/surface/aggregator/core.c
+++ b/drivers/platform/surface/aggregator/core.c
@@ -623,8 +623,10 @@ static int ssam_serial_hub_probe(struct serdev_device *serdev)
 	acpi_status astatus;
 	int status;
 
-	if (gpiod_count(&serdev->dev, NULL) < 0)
+	if (gpiod_count(&serdev->dev, NULL) < 0) {
+		dev_err(&serdev->dev, "no GPIO found\n");
 		return -ENODEV;
+	}
 
 	status = devm_acpi_dev_add_driver_gpios(&serdev->dev, ssam_acpi_gpios);
 	if (status)
@@ -637,21 +639,36 @@ static int ssam_serial_hub_probe(struct serdev_device *serdev)
 
 	/* Initialize controller. */
 	status = ssam_controller_init(ctrl, serdev);
-	if (status)
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err_probe(&serdev->dev, status,
+			      "failed to initialize ssam controller\n");
 		goto err_ctrl_init;
+	}
 
 	ssam_controller_lock(ctrl);
 
 	/* Set up serdev device. */
 	serdev_device_set_drvdata(serdev, ctrl);
 	serdev_device_set_client_ops(serdev, &ssam_serdev_ops);
+
+	/* The following step can fail when it's called too early before the
+	 * underlying uart device is ready (in this case -ENXIO is returned).
+	 * Instead of simply giving up and losing everything, we can defer
+	 * the probing by returning -EPROBE_DEFER so that the kernel would be
+	 * able to retry later. */
 	status = serdev_device_open(serdev);
-	if (status)
+	if (status == -ENXIO)
+		status = -EPROBE_DEFER;
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err_probe(&serdev->dev, status,
+			      "failed to open serdev device\n");
 		goto err_devopen;
+	}
 
 	astatus = ssam_serdev_setup_via_acpi(ssh->handle, serdev);
 	if (ACPI_FAILURE(astatus)) {
 		status = -ENXIO;
+		dev_err(&serdev->dev, "failed to setup serdev\n");
 		goto err_devinit;
 	}
 
@@ -667,16 +684,22 @@ static int ssam_serial_hub_probe(struct serdev_device *serdev)
 	 * states.
 	 */
 	status = ssam_log_firmware_version(ctrl);
-	if (status)
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err(&serdev->dev, "failed to get firmware version\n");
 		goto err_initrq;
+	}
 
 	status = ssam_ctrl_notif_d0_entry(ctrl);
-	if (status)
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err(&serdev->dev, "failed to notify EC of entry of D0\n");
 		goto err_initrq;
+	}
 
 	status = ssam_ctrl_notif_display_on(ctrl);
-	if (status)
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err(&serdev->dev, "failed to notify EC of display on\n");
 		goto err_initrq;
+	}
 
 	status = sysfs_create_group(&serdev->dev.kobj, &ssam_sam_group);
 	if (status)
@@ -684,8 +707,10 @@ static int ssam_serial_hub_probe(struct serdev_device *serdev)
 
 	/* Set up IRQ. */
 	status = ssam_irq_setup(ctrl);
-	if (status)
+	if (status) {
+		dev_err_probe(&serdev->dev, status, "failed to setup IRQ\n");
 		goto err_irq;
+	}
 
 	/* Finally, set main controller reference. */
 	status = ssam_try_set_controller(ctrl);