diff --git a/src/modules/module-filter-chain/builtin_plugin.c b/src/modules/module-filter-chain/builtin_plugin.c
index a0e27e568..194d3e239 100644
--- a/src/modules/module-filter-chain/builtin_plugin.c
+++ b/src/modules/module-filter-chain/builtin_plugin.c
@@ -690,11 +690,8 @@ static float *read_closest(char **filenames, float gain, int delay, int offset,
 
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_RATES && filenames[i] && filenames[i][0]; i++) {
 		fs[i] = sf_open(filenames[i], SFM_READ, &infos[i]);
-		if (!fs[i]) {
-			pw_log_error("Can't open file %s: %s", filenames[i],
-				sf_strerror(fs[i]));
+		if (fs[i] == NULL)
 			continue;
-		}
 
 		if (labs((long)infos[i].samplerate - (long)*rate) < diff) {
 			best = i;
@@ -706,9 +703,20 @@ static float *read_closest(char **filenames, float gain, int delay, int offset,
 		pw_log_info("loading best rate:%u %s", infos[best].samplerate, filenames[best]);
 		samples = read_samples_from_sf(fs[best], infos[best], gain, delay,
 			offset, length, channel, rate, n_samples);
+	} else {
+		char buf[PATH_MAX];
+		pw_log_error("Can't open any sample file (CWD %s):",
+				getcwd(buf, sizeof(buf)));
+		for (i = 0; i < MAX_RATES && filenames[i] && filenames[i][0]; i++) {
+			fs[i] = sf_open(filenames[i], SFM_READ, &infos[i]);
+			if (fs[i] == NULL)
+				pw_log_error(" failed file %s: %s", filenames[i], sf_strerror(fs[i]));
+			else
+				pw_log_warn(" unexpectedly opened file %s", filenames[i]);
+		}
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_RATES; i++)
-		if (fs[i])
+		if (fs[i] != NULL)
 			sf_close(fs[i]);
 
 	return samples;