diff --git a/src/tools/pwcat.c b/src/tools/pwcat.c
index 0b261198b..cbb86f86b 100644
--- a/src/tools/pwcat.c
+++ b/src/tools/pwcat.c
@@ -716,8 +716,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			break;
 
 		case OPT_TARGET:
+			data.target = optarg;
 			if (!strcmp(optarg, "auto")) {
-				data.target = optarg;
 				data.target_id = PW_ID_ANY;
 				break;
 			}
@@ -725,6 +725,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				fprintf(stderr, "error: bad target option \"%s\"\n", optarg);
 				goto error_usage;
 			}
+			data.target_id = atoi(optarg);
 			break;
 
 		case OPT_LATENCY:
@@ -937,6 +938,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				.channels = data.channels,
 				.rate = data.rate ));
 
+	if (data.verbose)
+		printf("connecting %s stream; target_id=%"PRIu32"\n",
+				data.mode == mode_playback ? "playback" : "record",
+				data.target_id);
+
 	ret = pw_stream_connect(data.stream,
 			  data.mode == mode_playback ? PW_DIRECTION_OUTPUT : PW_DIRECTION_INPUT,
 			  data.target_id,