diff --git a/joy/src/joy.cpp b/joy/src/joy.cpp
index ce9e1631..a0368e3a 100644
--- a/joy/src/joy.cpp
+++ b/joy/src/joy.cpp
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ void Joy::handleJoyDeviceAdded(const SDL_Event & e)
       RCLCPP_WARN(get_logger(), "Failed to get the number of joysticks: %s", SDL_GetError());
       return;
     }
+    bool matching_device_found = false;
     for (int i = 0; i < num_joysticks; ++i) {
       const char * name = SDL_JoystickNameForIndex(i);
       if (name == nullptr) {
@@ -316,10 +317,17 @@ void Joy::handleJoyDeviceAdded(const SDL_Event & e)
       }
       if (std::string(name) == dev_name_) {
         // We found it!
+        matching_device_found = true;
         dev_id_ = i;
         break;
       }
     }
+    if (!matching_device_found) {
+      RCLCPP_WARN(
+        get_logger(), "Could not get joystick with name %s: %s",
+        dev_name_.c_str(), SDL_GetError());
+      return;
+    }
   }
 
   if (e.jdevice.which != dev_id_) {