diff --git a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt
index 64a3fff25..0dfe5ca3a 100644
--- a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt
+++ b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ open class DefaultBrowser(
 
     override var info: ContraDict? = null
 
+    /** Last error from [testConnection], surfaced if the browser never opens its debug port. */
+    private var lastConnectionError: Exception? = null
+
     // The canonical registry: mutated only while holding [updateTargetInfoMutex]. After each
     // mutation an immutable copy is published to [targetsSnapshot] so the non-suspend getters
     // below can read a consistent view without the lock (ISSUE-5).
@@ -266,15 +269,19 @@ open class DefaultBrowser(
         logger.info("Connection to browser established")
 
         val info = info ?: run {
-            logger.info("Browser info not initialized, reading error")
-            /*
-            // This seems to block indefinitely on CI, so inspection is required
-            withTimeoutOrNull(1000) {
-                _process?.errorStream?.bufferedReader()?.use {
-                    logger.info("Browser stderr: ${it.readText()}")
-                }
-            }
-             */
+            // Say what actually failed. Without this the only visible symptom is a 30s wait and a
+            // generic exception, which cannot distinguish "nothing is listening on that port" (the
+            // browser never opened it) from "something answers but not what we expect" (a stale or
+            // foreign process holds it) — two very different causes.
+            val waitedMs = config.browserConnectionTimeout * (config.browserConnectionMaxTries + 1)
+            val stderr = process?.readStderrSnapshot()
+            logger.error(
+                "Browser never opened its debug port on ${config.host}:${config.port} after ${waitedMs}ms " +
+                    "(pid=${process?.pid()}, alive=${process?.isAlive()}). " +
+                    "Last connection error: " +
+                    (lastConnectionError?.let { "${it::class.simpleName}: ${it.message}" } ?: "none") +
+                    ". Browser stderr: " + (stderr?.trim()?.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() } ?: "<none>")
+            )
             stop()
             throw FailedToConnectToBrowserException()
         }
@@ -344,6 +351,7 @@ open class DefaultBrowser(
         } catch (e: CancellationException) {
             throw e
         } catch (e: Exception) {
+            lastConnectionError = e
             logger.debug("Could not start: ${e.message}")
             false
         }
diff --git a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.kt b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.kt
index 04fe39f92..3be6d121a 100644
--- a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.kt
+++ b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.kt
@@ -8,6 +8,19 @@ expect abstract class Process {
     abstract fun destroy()
 }
 
+/**
+ * Reads whatever is currently buffered on the process's stderr, or null if unavailable.
+ *
+ * Bounded in size and time on purpose: the stream stays open for the process's whole life, so an
+ * unbounded read would block until it exits rather than returning what the browser has said so far.
+ *
+ * Returns null where stderr is not captured (Linux, where the child simply inherits ours).
+ */
+expect suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(
+    maxBytes: Int = 64 * 1024,
+    timeoutMillis: Long = 250,
+): String?
+
 expect suspend fun startProcess(exe: Path, params: List<String>): Process
 expect fun addShutdownHook(hook: suspend () -> Unit)
 expect fun isPosix(): Boolean
diff --git a/core/src/jsMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.js.kt b/core/src/jsMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.js.kt
index c0d60ec43..cca0ef77c 100644
--- a/core/src/jsMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.js.kt
+++ b/core/src/jsMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.js.kt
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ actual abstract class Process {
     actual abstract fun destroy()
 }
 
+actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long): String? {
+    throw UnsupportedOperationException()
+}
+
 actual suspend fun startProcess(
     exe: Path,
     params: List<String>,
diff --git a/core/src/jvmMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.jvm.kt b/core/src/jvmMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.jvm.kt
index 86184342b..d88df4231 100644
--- a/core/src/jvmMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.jvm.kt
+++ b/core/src/jvmMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.jvm.kt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package dev.kdriver.core.browser
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
+import kotlinx.coroutines.withTimeoutOrNull
 import kotlinx.io.files.Path
 import java.io.File
 import java.net.InetAddress
@@ -73,6 +74,24 @@ actual fun getEnv(name: String): String? {
     return System.getenv(name)
 }
 
+/**
+ * Reads whatever is currently buffered on the process's stderr, bounded in both size and time.
+ *
+ * Both bounds matter: the stream stays open for as long as the process lives, so an unbounded read
+ * would block until it exits. That is why the equivalent block used to be commented out with
+ * "seems to block indefinitely on CI".
+ */
+actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long): String? =
+    withTimeoutOrNull(timeoutMillis) {
+        withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
+            runCatching {
+                val buffer = ByteArray(maxBytes)
+                val read = errorStream.read(buffer)
+                if (read > 0) String(buffer, 0, read) else null
+            }.getOrNull()
+        }
+    }
+
 actual fun freePort(): Int? {
     ServerSocket(0, 5, InetAddress.getByName("127.0.0.1")).use { socket ->
         return socket.localPort
diff --git a/core/src/mingwMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.mingw.kt b/core/src/mingwMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.mingw.kt
index 4c2ed7de7..f340d642d 100644
--- a/core/src/mingwMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.mingw.kt
+++ b/core/src/mingwMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.mingw.kt
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ private class WindowsProcess(
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Not available on this target: [startProcess] here calls `CreateProcessW` without redirecting the
+ * child's standard streams, so there is no pipe to read from.
+ */
+actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long): String? = null
+
 @OptIn(ExperimentalForeignApi::class)
 actual suspend fun startProcess(
     exe: Path,
diff --git a/core/src/posixMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.posix.kt b/core/src/posixMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.posix.kt
index 1a78a6726..0aa3fba46 100644
--- a/core/src/posixMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.posix.kt
+++ b/core/src/posixMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/Process.posix.kt
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ actual abstract class Process {
     actual abstract fun destroy()
 }
 
+actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long): String? = null
+
 actual fun addShutdownHook(hook: suspend () -> Unit) {
     // POSIX doesn't have a direct equivalent to Java shutdown hooks
     // Could use atexit() but it doesn't support suspend functions