diff --git a/lib/package_remove.c b/lib/package_remove.c
index be06b784..0c91f61d 100644
--- a/lib/package_remove.c
+++ b/lib/package_remove.c
@@ -180,11 +180,13 @@ xbps_remove_pkg(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 	pkgname = xbps_pkg_name(pkgver);
 	assert(pkgname);
 
-	if ((rv = xbps_pkg_state_installed(xhp, pkgname, &state)) != 0)
-		goto out;
+	xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "attempting to remove %s state %d\n", pkgver, state);
 
-	xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "attempting to remove %s state %d\n",
-	    pkgver, state);
+	if ((rv = xbps_pkg_state_installed(xhp, pkgname, &state)) != 0) {
+		xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "cannot find %s in pkgdb: %s\n",
+		    pkgver, strerror(rv));
+		goto out;
+	}
 
 	if (!update)
 		xbps_set_cb_state(xhp, XBPS_STATE_REMOVE, 0, pkgver, NULL);