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 d5f744dc2..978f8b7b3 100644
--- a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt
+++ b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/DefaultBrowser.kt
@@ -275,11 +275,13 @@ open class DefaultBrowser(
             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}: ${it.message}" } ?: "none") +
-                    ". Browser stderr: " + (stderr?.trim()?.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() } ?: "<none>")
+                browserStartFailureMessage(
+                    endpoint = "${config.host}:${config.port}",
+                    waitedMs = waitedMs,
+                    fate = processFate(process?.pid(), process?.isAlive() ?: false, process?.exitCodeOrNull()),
+                    lastConnectionError = lastConnectionError,
+                    stderr = stderr,
+                )
             )
             stop()
             throw FailedToConnectToBrowserException()
diff --git a/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailure.kt b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailure.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19c05331a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/commonMain/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailure.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package dev.kdriver.core.browser
+
+/**
+ * Reports the exit status of a process that has already terminated, or null if it is still running
+ * (or the platform cannot tell).
+ *
+ * Paired with [Process.isAlive]: `isAlive() == false` says the browser is gone, this says *how* it
+ * went. The distinction is the whole point — on Windows a Chrome that finds a live instance on the
+ * same `--user-data-dir` hands its command line over and exits **0**, silently, without ever opening
+ * a debug port; a Chrome that crashed exits non-zero. Both look identical without this.
+ */
+expect fun Process.exitCodeOrNull(): Int?
+
+/**
+ * Describes what became of the browser process.
+ *
+ * Reports the exit status as-is rather than interpreting it: the whole reason for reading it is that
+ * we do not yet know which statuses a browser that never opened its debug port exits with. Guessing
+ * here would put an unverified claim into every log line.
+ *
+ * @param pid the browser's process id, if we had one.
+ * @param alive whether the process was still running when we gave up.
+ * @param exitCode its exit status, or null if it is alive or the platform cannot tell.
+ *
+ * @return a fragment such as `pid=1916, exited with 21`, meant to be embedded in a larger message.
+ */
+internal fun processFate(pid: Long?, alive: Boolean, exitCode: Int?): String = "pid=$pid, " + when {
+    alive -> "still running"
+    exitCode == null -> "already gone (exit status unavailable)"
+    else -> "exited with $exitCode"
+}
+
+/**
+ * Builds the message logged when a browser never opened its debug port.
+ *
+ * Pure and separated from [DefaultBrowser.start] so the wording is covered by tests on any OS — the
+ * facts it reports come from platform calls that cannot be exercised in CI.
+ *
+ * @param endpoint the address the debug port was expected on.
+ * @param waitedMs how long we waited for it.
+ * @param fate the process's id and what became of it — see [processFate].
+ * @param lastConnectionError the last failure seen while polling, if any.
+ * @param stderr whatever the browser wrote to stderr, if anything.
+ *
+ * @return a single line naming the endpoint, the process's fate, and the last connection error.
+ */
+internal fun browserStartFailureMessage(
+    endpoint: String,
+    waitedMs: Long,
+    fate: String,
+    lastConnectionError: Throwable?,
+    stderr: String?,
+): String = "Browser never opened its debug port on $endpoint after ${waitedMs}ms ($fate). " +
+    "Last connection error: " +
+    (lastConnectionError?.let { "${it::class.simpleName}: ${it.message}" } ?: "none") +
+    ". Browser stderr: " + (stderr?.trim()?.takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() } ?: "<none>")
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 af1e2b93c..3c9c224d2 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
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long
     throw UnsupportedOperationException()
 }
 
+actual fun Process.exitCodeOrNull(): Int? {
+    throw UnsupportedOperationException()
+}
+
 actual fun Process.killTree() {
     throw UnsupportedOperationException()
 }
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 ff6dda8c7..4dadd020a 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
@@ -120,3 +120,11 @@ actual fun defaultBrowserSearchConfig(): BrowserSearchConfig {
         else -> BrowserSearchConfig(File.pathSeparator, searchWindowsProgramFiles = true)
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Reads the exit status, or null while the process is still running.
+ *
+ * `exitValue()` throws `IllegalThreadStateException` rather than returning a sentinel when the
+ * process is alive, which is exactly the "still running" case we report as null.
+ */
+actual fun Process.exitCodeOrNull(): Int? = runCatching { exitValue() }.getOrNull()
diff --git a/core/src/jvmTest/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailureMessageTest.kt b/core/src/jvmTest/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailureMessageTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12e92b9d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/jvmTest/kotlin/dev/kdriver/core/browser/StartFailureMessageTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package dev.kdriver.core.browser
+
+import kotlin.test.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertTrue
+
+class StartFailureMessageTest {
+
+    private fun message(
+        alive: Boolean = false,
+        exitCode: Int? = null,
+        stderr: String? = null,
+        error: Throwable? = null,
+    ) = browserStartFailureMessage(
+        endpoint = "127.0.0.1:53997", waitedMs = 30500,
+        fate = processFate(1916, alive, exitCode), lastConnectionError = error, stderr = stderr,
+    )
+
+    @Test
+    fun message_alwaysNamesTheEndpointTheWaitAndThePid() {
+        val m = message()
+        assertTrue("127.0.0.1:53997" in m, m)
+        assertTrue("30500ms" in m, m)
+        assertTrue("pid=1916" in m, m)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reported as-is, with no interpretation: we are reading the exit status precisely because we do
+     * not know yet which statuses this failure produces. A zero must not be dressed up as anything.
+     */
+    @Test
+    fun message_reportsTheExitStatusVerbatim() {
+        assertTrue("exited with 0" in message(exitCode = 0), message(exitCode = 0))
+        assertTrue("exited with 21" in message(exitCode = 21), message(exitCode = 21))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun message_whenTheBrowserIsStillRunning_saysSoRatherThanGuessing() {
+        val m = message(alive = true, exitCode = null)
+        assertTrue("still running" in m, m)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun message_whenTheExitStatusIsUnavailable_doesNotClaimACleanExit() {
+        val m = message(alive = false, exitCode = null)
+        assertTrue("exit status unavailable" in m, m)
+        assertTrue("exited with" !in m, "an unknown status must not be reported as an exit code: $m")
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun message_reportsStderrWhenThereIsSomeAndSaysSoWhenThereIsNot() {
+        assertTrue("<none>" in message(stderr = "   "), "blank stderr reads as none")
+        assertTrue("Fontconfig error" in message(stderr = "Fontconfig error\n"), "stderr is quoted")
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun message_reportsTheLastConnectionError() {
+        val m = message(error = IllegalStateException("Connection refused"))
+        assertTrue("IllegalStateException: Connection refused" in m, m)
+        assertTrue("none" in message(error = null), "says none when there was no error")
+    }
+}
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 3c86da365..c62e3b8f8 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
@@ -61,6 +61,21 @@ actual suspend fun Process.readStderrSnapshot(maxBytes: Int, timeoutMillis: Long
  * a `CreateToolhelp32Snapshot` by parent id, which this target does not do — the JVM target, which is
  * the one running browsers in production, uses `ProcessHandle.descendants()` for that.
  */
+/**
+ * Reads the exit status via `GetExitCodeProcess`, the same call [Process.isAlive] uses — null while
+ * it still reports `STILL_ACTIVE`.
+ */
+@OptIn(ExperimentalForeignApi::class)
+actual fun Process.exitCodeOrNull(): Int? {
+    val handle = processHandle ?: return null
+    val code = memScoped {
+        val c = alloc<DWORDVar>()
+        GetExitCodeProcess(handle, c.ptr)
+        c.value
+    }
+    return if (code == STILL_ACTIVE) null else code.toInt()
+}
+
 @OptIn(ExperimentalForeignApi::class)
 actual fun Process.killTree() {
     processHandle?.let { if (isAlive()) TerminateProcess(it, 1u) }
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 9834ec3c0..61b2f1e21 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
@@ -101,3 +101,9 @@ actual fun tempProfileDir(): Path {
 
     return Path(profilePath)
 }
+
+/**
+ * Not available on this target: liveness here is `kill(pid, 0)`, which says whether the process
+ * exists but never carries its exit status, and nothing reaps the child to collect one.
+ */
+actual fun Process.exitCodeOrNull(): Int? = null