diff --git a/grub-core/loader/efi/linux.c b/grub-core/loader/efi/linux.c
index d59c835e8..1d98fa365 100644
--- a/grub-core/loader/efi/linux.c
+++ b/grub-core/loader/efi/linux.c
@@ -214,6 +214,11 @@ grub_arch_efi_linux_boot_image (grub_addr_t addr, grub_size_t size, char *args)
 
   /* Convert command line to UCS-2 */
   loaded_image = grub_efi_get_loaded_image (image_handle);
+  if (loaded_image == NULL)
+    {
+      grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_FIRMWARE, "missing loaded_image proto");
+      goto unload;
+    }
   loaded_image->load_options_size = len =
     (grub_strlen (args) + 1) * sizeof (grub_efi_char16_t);
   loaded_image->load_options =
@@ -229,9 +234,11 @@ grub_arch_efi_linux_boot_image (grub_addr_t addr, grub_size_t size, char *args)
   status = b->start_image (image_handle, 0, NULL);
 
   /* When successful, not reached */
-  b->unload_image (image_handle);
+  grub_error (GRUB_ERR_BAD_OS, "start_image() returned %" PRIuGRUB_EFI_UINTN_T, status);
   grub_efi_free_pages ((grub_addr_t) loaded_image->load_options,
 		       GRUB_EFI_BYTES_TO_PAGES (loaded_image->load_options_size));
+unload:
+  b->unload_image (image_handle);
 
   return grub_errno;
 }