diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f5d89275..f9bb58a5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * simplify theme overrides [[@cruessler](https://github.com/cruessler)] ([#1367](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/1367))
 * support for sign-off of commits [[@domtac](https://github.com/domtac)]([#1757](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/1757))
 * switched from textwrap to bwrap for text wrapping [[@TheBlackSheep3](https://github.com/TheBlackSheep3/)] ([#1762](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/1762))
+* more logging diagnostics when a repo cannot be opened
 
 ### Fixes
 * fix commit dialog char count for multibyte characters ([#1726](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/1726))
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
index a7bf7d64..a752e07b 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ pub use tags::{
 };
 pub use tree::{tree_file_content, tree_files, TreeFile};
 pub use utils::{
-	get_head, get_head_tuple, is_repo, repo_dir, stage_add_all,
-	stage_add_file, stage_addremoved, Head,
+	get_head, get_head_tuple, repo_dir, repo_open_error,
+	stage_add_all, stage_add_file, stage_addremoved, Head,
 };
 
 pub use git2::ResetType;
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
index fff6fecc..a5ec1b3e 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ pub struct Head {
 }
 
 ///
-pub fn is_repo(repo_path: &RepoPath) -> bool {
+pub fn repo_open_error(repo_path: &RepoPath) -> Option<String> {
 	Repository::open_ext(
 		repo_path.gitpath(),
 		RepositoryOpenFlags::empty(),
 		Vec::<&Path>::new(),
 	)
-	.is_ok()
+	.map_or_else(|e| Some(e.to_string()), |_| None)
 }
 
 ///
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 6cab1fa0..3a3a7454 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -323,7 +323,11 @@ fn draw<B: Backend>(
 }
 
 fn valid_path(repo_path: &RepoPath) -> bool {
-	asyncgit::sync::is_repo(repo_path)
+	let error = asyncgit::sync::repo_open_error(repo_path);
+	if let Some(error) = &error {
+		eprintln!("repo open error: {error}");
+	}
+	error.is_none()
 }
 
 fn select_event(