diff --git a/src/dnsmasq.c b/src/dnsmasq.c
index bf031a1..5510a9b 100644
--- a/src/dnsmasq.c
+++ b/src/dnsmasq.c
@@ -442,8 +442,10 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
   if (option_bool(OPT_UBUS))
 #ifdef HAVE_UBUS
     {
+      char *err;
       daemon->ubus = NULL;
-      ubus_init();
+      if ((err = ubus_init()))
+	die(_("UBus error: %s"), err, EC_MISC);
     }
 #else
   die(_("UBus not available: set HAVE_UBUS in src/config.h"), NULL, EC_BADCONF);
@@ -1195,20 +1197,20 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 	  if (daemon->dbus)
 	    my_syslog(LOG_INFO, _("connected to system DBus"));
 	}
-      check_dbus_listeners();
+     check_dbus_listeners();
 #endif
 
 #ifdef HAVE_UBUS
-      if (option_bool(OPT_UBUS))
+      /* if we didn't create a UBus connection, retry now. */
+     if (option_bool(OPT_UBUS) && !daemon->ubus)
         {
-          /* if we didn't create a UBus connection, retry now. */
-          if (!daemon->ubus)
-            {
-              ubus_init();
-            }
-
-          check_ubus_listeners();
-        }
+	  char *err;
+	  if ((err = ubus_init()))
+	    my_syslog(LOG_WARNING, _("UBus error: %s"), err);
+	  if (daemon->ubus)
+	    my_syslog(LOG_INFO, _("connected to system UBus"));
+	}
+     check_ubus_listeners();
 #endif
 
       check_dns_listeners(now);
diff --git a/src/dnsmasq.h b/src/dnsmasq.h
index b64b22a..b27737b 100644
--- a/src/dnsmasq.h
+++ b/src/dnsmasq.h
@@ -1543,7 +1543,7 @@ void emit_dbus_signal(int action, struct dhcp_lease *lease, char *hostname);
 
 /* ubus.c */
 #ifdef HAVE_UBUS
-void ubus_init(void);
+char *ubus_init(void);
 void set_ubus_listeners(void);
 void check_ubus_listeners(void);
 void ubus_event_bcast(const char *type, const char *mac, const char *ip, const char *name, const char *interface);
diff --git a/src/ubus.c b/src/ubus.c
index 33c2783..4c166e0 100644
--- a/src/ubus.c
+++ b/src/ubus.c
@@ -76,42 +76,27 @@ static void ubus_disconnect_cb(struct ubus_context *ubus)
     }
 }
 
-void ubus_init()
+char *ubus_init()
 {
   struct ubus_context *ubus = NULL;
   int ret = 0;
 
-  ubus = ubus_connect(NULL);
-  if (!ubus)
-    {
-      if (!error_logged)
-        {
-          my_syslog(LOG_ERR, _("Cannot initialize UBus: connection failed"));
-          error_logged = 1;
-        }
-
-      ubus_destroy(ubus);
-      return;
-    }
-
+  if (!(ubus = ubus_connect(NULL)))
+    return NULL;
+  
   ubus_object.name = daemon->ubus_name;
   ret = ubus_add_object(ubus, &ubus_object);
   if (ret)
     {
-      if (!error_logged)
-        {
-          my_syslog(LOG_ERR, _("Cannot add object to UBus: %s"), ubus_strerror(ret));
-          error_logged = 1;
-        }
       ubus_destroy(ubus);
-      return;
-    }
-
+      return ubus_strerror(ret);
+    }    
+  
   ubus->connection_lost = ubus_disconnect_cb;
   daemon->ubus = ubus;
   error_logged = 0;
 
-  my_syslog(LOG_INFO, _("Connected to system UBus"));
+  return NULL;
 }
 
 void set_ubus_listeners()