diff --git a/init/do_mounts_rd.c b/init/do_mounts_rd.c
index 91d0cfca507..027a402708d 100644
--- a/init/do_mounts_rd.c
+++ b/init/do_mounts_rd.c
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ identify_ramdisk_image(int fd, int start_block, decompress_fn *decompressor)
 		printk(KERN_NOTICE "RAMDISK: %s image found at block %d\n",
 		       compress_name, start_block);
 		if (!*decompressor)
-			printk(KERN_CRIT "RAMDISK: %s decompressor not configured!\n",
+			printk(KERN_EMERG
+			       "RAMDISK: %s decompressor not configured!\n",
 			       compress_name);
 		nblocks = 0;
 		goto done;
diff --git a/init/initramfs.c b/init/initramfs.c
index 9a7290ec818..7dcde7ea660 100644
--- a/init/initramfs.c
+++ b/init/initramfs.c
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 	char *err = unpack_to_rootfs(__initramfs_start,
 			 __initramfs_end - __initramfs_start, 0);
 	if (err)
-		panic(err);
+		panic(err);	/* Failed to decompress INTERNAL initramfs */
 	if (initrd_start) {
 #ifdef CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM
 		int fd;
@@ -554,9 +554,12 @@ static int __init populate_rootfs(void)
 		printk(KERN_INFO "Unpacking initramfs...");
 		err = unpack_to_rootfs((char *)initrd_start,
 			initrd_end - initrd_start, 0);
-		if (err)
-			panic(err);
-		printk(" done\n");
+		if (err) {
+			printk(" failed!\n");
+			printk(KERN_EMERG "%s\n", err);
+		} else {
+			printk(" done\n");
+		}
 		free_initrd();
 #endif
 	}