diff --git a/cmds-device.c b/cmds-device.c
index c1dc363a..be2aaff3 100644
--- a/cmds-device.c
+++ b/cmds-device.c
@@ -165,8 +165,14 @@ static int cmd_rm_dev(int argc, char **argv)
 		strncpy_null(arg.name, argv[i]);
 		res = ioctl(fdmnt, BTRFS_IOC_RM_DEV, &arg);
 		e = errno;
-		if(res<0){
-			fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: error removing the device '%s' - %s\n",
+		if (res > 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+				"ERROR: error removing the device '%s' - %s\n",
+				argv[i], btrfs_err_str(res));
+			ret++;
+		} else if (res < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+				"ERROR: error removing the device '%s' - %s\n",
 				argv[i], strerror(e));
 			ret++;
 		}
diff --git a/ioctl.h b/ioctl.h
index f7864100..27521d5c 100644
--- a/ioctl.h
+++ b/ioctl.h
@@ -455,6 +455,48 @@ struct btrfs_ioctl_qgroup_create_args {
 	__u64 create;
 	__u64 qgroupid;
 };
+
+/* Error codes as returned by the kernel */
+enum btrfs_err_code {
+	notused,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID1_MIN_NOT_MET,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID10_MIN_NOT_MET,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID5_MIN_NOT_MET,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID6_MIN_NOT_MET,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_TGT_REPLACE,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_MISSING_NOT_FOUND,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_ONLY_WRITABLE,
+	BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_EXCL_RUN_IN_PROGRESS
+};
+
+/* An error code to error string mapping for the kernel
+*  error codes
+*/
+static inline char *btrfs_err_str(enum btrfs_err_code err_code)
+{
+	switch (err_code) {
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID1_MIN_NOT_MET:
+			return "unable to go below two devices on raid1";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID10_MIN_NOT_MET:
+			return "unable to go below four devices on raid10";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID5_MIN_NOT_MET:
+			return "unable to go below two devices on raid5";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_RAID6_MIN_NOT_MET:
+			return "unable to go below three devices on raid6";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_TGT_REPLACE:
+			return "unable to remove the dev_replace target dev";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_MISSING_NOT_FOUND:
+			return "no missing devices found to remove";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_ONLY_WRITABLE:
+			return "unable to remove the only writeable device";
+		case BTRFS_ERROR_DEV_EXCL_RUN_IN_PROGRESS:
+			return "add/delete/balance/replace/resize operation "
+				"in progress";
+		default:
+			return NULL;
+	}
+}
+
 #define BTRFS_IOC_SNAP_CREATE _IOW(BTRFS_IOCTL_MAGIC, 1, \
 				   struct btrfs_ioctl_vol_args)
 #define BTRFS_IOC_DEFRAG _IOW(BTRFS_IOCTL_MAGIC, 2, \
@@ -550,7 +592,6 @@ struct btrfs_ioctl_clone_range_args {
 				      struct btrfs_ioctl_get_dev_stats)
 #define BTRFS_IOC_DEV_REPLACE _IOWR(BTRFS_IOCTL_MAGIC, 53, \
 				    struct btrfs_ioctl_dev_replace_args)
-
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif