diff --git a/syncd/Syncd.cpp b/syncd/Syncd.cpp
index 0e197baffef7..c9088e57a09f 100644
--- a/syncd/Syncd.cpp
+++ b/syncd/Syncd.cpp
@@ -202,6 +202,9 @@ void Syncd::performStartupLogic()
 
     if (m_isWarmStart && (m_commandLineOptions->m_startType != SAI_START_TYPE_FASTFAST_BOOT))
     {
+        SWSS_LOG_WARN("override command line startType=%s via SAI_START_TYPE_WARM_BOOT",
+                CommandLineOptions::startTypeToString(m_commandLineOptions->m_startType).c_str());
+
         m_commandLineOptions->m_startType = SAI_START_TYPE_WARM_BOOT;
     }
 
diff --git a/vslib/src/VirtualSwitchSaiInterface.cpp b/vslib/src/VirtualSwitchSaiInterface.cpp
index c737e3b87b8a..72f47a55bf15 100644
--- a/vslib/src/VirtualSwitchSaiInterface.cpp
+++ b/vslib/src/VirtualSwitchSaiInterface.cpp
@@ -649,8 +649,10 @@ sai_status_t VirtualSwitchSaiInterface::create(
 
             if (warmBootState == nullptr)
             {
-                SWSS_LOG_WARN("warm boot was requested on switch %s, but warm boot state is NULL, will perform COLD boot",
+                SWSS_LOG_ERROR("warm boot was requested on switch %s, but warm boot state is NULL",
                         sai_serialize_object_id(switchId).c_str());
+
+                return SAI_STATUS_FAILURE;
             }
         }
 
@@ -1362,6 +1364,11 @@ bool VirtualSwitchSaiInterface::readWarmBootFile(
         return false;
     }
 
+    {
+        std::ifstream in(warmBootFile, std::ifstream::ate | std::ifstream::binary);
+        SWSS_LOG_NOTICE("%s file size: %zu", warmBootFile, (size_t)in.tellg());
+    }
+
     std::ifstream ifs;
 
     ifs.open(warmBootFile);
@@ -1467,7 +1474,7 @@ bool VirtualSwitchSaiInterface::readWarmBootFile(
 
     ifs.close();
 
-    SWSS_LOG_NOTICE("warm boot file %s stats:", warmBootFile);
+    SWSS_LOG_NOTICE("warm boot file %s stats, loaded switches: %zu", warmBootFile, m_warmBootState.size());
 
     for (auto& kvp: m_warmBootState)
     {