diff --git a/src/bump_allocator.rs b/src/bump_allocator.rs
index ed92f7d..9334fa0 100644
--- a/src/bump_allocator.rs
+++ b/src/bump_allocator.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::{
     usize,
 };
 
-use libc::{c_void, ftruncate, mmap, syscall, SYS_memfd_secret, MAP_FAILED, MAP_SHARED, PROT_READ, PROT_WRITE};
+use libc::{c_char, c_void, ftruncate, mmap, perror, syscall, SYS_memfd_secret, MAP_FAILED, MAP_SHARED, PROT_READ, PROT_WRITE};
 
 pub(crate) const MEMFD_INITIAL_SIZE: usize = 1024 * 1024;
 const MMAP_SIZE: usize = 1024 * 1024;
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ impl BumpAllocator {
         assert!(MMAP_SIZE >= MEMFD_INITIAL_SIZE);
 
         let data_fd = syscall(SYS_memfd_secret, 0) as i32;
+        if data_fd <= 0 {
+            perror("memfd secret\x00".as_ptr() as *const c_char);
+        }
 
         assert!(data_fd > 0);