diff --git a/examples/region/Sampler.cxx b/examples/region/Sampler.cxx
index f084ad68..114d2bfb 100644
--- a/examples/region/Sampler.cxx
+++ b/examples/region/Sampler.cxx
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ void Sampler::InitTask()
     fMaxIterations = fConfig->GetProperty<uint64_t>("max-iterations");
 
     fChannels.at("data").at(0).Transport()->SubscribeToRegionEvents([](FairMQRegionInfo info) {
-        LOG(info) << "Region event: " << info.event
-                  << ", managed: " << info.managed
+        LOG(info) << "Region event: " << info.event << ": "
+                  << (info.managed ? "managed" : "unmanaged")
                   << ", id: " << info.id
                   << ", ptr: " << info.ptr
                   << ", size: " << info.size
diff --git a/examples/region/Sink.cxx b/examples/region/Sink.cxx
index 340d01dd..8d29231d 100644
--- a/examples/region/Sink.cxx
+++ b/examples/region/Sink.cxx
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ void Sink::InitTask()
     // Get the fMaxIterations value from the command line options (via fConfig)
     fMaxIterations = fConfig->GetProperty<uint64_t>("max-iterations");
     fChannels.at("data").at(0).Transport()->SubscribeToRegionEvents([](FairMQRegionInfo info) {
-        LOG(info) << "Region event: " << info.event
-                  << ", managed: " << info.managed
+        LOG(info) << "Region event: " << info.event << ": "
+                  << (info.managed ? "managed" : "unmanaged")
                   << ", id: " << info.id
                   << ", ptr: " << info.ptr
                   << ", size: " << info.size
diff --git a/examples/region/fairmq-start-ex-region.sh.in b/examples/region/fairmq-start-ex-region.sh.in
index 56a3fd66..b3133d24 100755
--- a/examples/region/fairmq-start-ex-region.sh.in
+++ b/examples/region/fairmq-start-ex-region.sh.in
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ SAMPLER+=" --msg-size $msgSize"
 # SAMPLER+=" --rate 10"
 SAMPLER+=" --transport shmem"
 SAMPLER+=" --channel-config name=data,type=push,method=bind,address=tcp://127.0.0.1:7777,sndKernelSize=212992"
-xterm -geometry 80x23+0+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SAMPLER &
+xterm -geometry 120x60+0+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SAMPLER &
 
 SINK="fairmq-ex-region-sink"
 SINK+=" --id sink1"
 SINK+=" --severity debug"
 SINK+=" --transport shmem"
 SINK+=" --channel-config name=data,type=pull,method=connect,address=tcp://127.0.0.1:7777,rcvKernelSize=212992"
-xterm -geometry 80x23+500+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SINK &
+xterm -geometry 120x60+750+0 -hold -e @EX_BIN_DIR@/$SINK &
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
index 0327e3f7..a9303021 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
@@ -322,7 +322,6 @@ class Manager
             fRegionEventsCV.notify_all();
 
             return result;
-
         } catch (interprocess_exception& e) {
             LOG(error) << "cannot create region. Already created/not cleaned up?";
             LOG(error) << e.what();
@@ -377,7 +376,7 @@ class Manager
                 LOG(error) << oor.what();
                 return nullptr;
             } catch (boost::interprocess::interprocess_exception& e) {
-                LOG(warn) << "Could not get remote region for id '" << id << "'";
+                LOG(error) << "Could not get remote region for id '" << id << "': " << e.what();
                 return nullptr;
             }
         }
@@ -413,8 +412,12 @@ class Manager
             info.event = e.second.fDestroyed ? RegionEvent::destroyed : RegionEvent::created;
             if (!e.second.fDestroyed) {
                 auto region = GetRegionUnsafe(info.id);
-                info.ptr = region->fRegion.get_address();
-                info.size = region->fRegion.get_size();
+                if (region) {
+                    info.ptr = region->fRegion.get_address();
+                    info.size = region->fRegion.get_size();
+                } else {
+                    throw std::runtime_error(tools::ToString("GetRegionInfoUnsafe() could not get region with id '", info.id, "'"));
+                }
             } else {
                 info.ptr = nullptr;
                 info.size = 0;
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/Region.h b/fairmq/shmem/Region.h
index 8773245e..bbe3e488 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/Region.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/Region.h
@@ -85,13 +85,23 @@ struct Region
             LOG(debug) << "shmem: initialized file: " << fName;
             fRegion = mapped_region(fFileMapping, read_write, 0, size, 0, flags);
         } else {
-            if (fRemote) {
-                fShmemObject = shared_memory_object(open_only, fName.c_str(), read_write);
-            } else {
-                fShmemObject = shared_memory_object(create_only, fName.c_str(), read_write);
-                fShmemObject.truncate(size);
+            try {
+                if (fRemote) {
+                    fShmemObject = shared_memory_object(open_only, fName.c_str(), read_write);
+                } else {
+                    fShmemObject = shared_memory_object(create_only, fName.c_str(), read_write);
+                    fShmemObject.truncate(size);
+                }
+            } catch(interprocess_exception& e) {
+                LOG(error) << "Failed " << (fRemote ? "opening" : "creating") << " shared_memory_object for region id '" << id << "': " << e.what();
+                throw;
+            }
+            try {
+                fRegion = mapped_region(fShmemObject, read_write, 0, 0, 0, flags);
+            } catch(interprocess_exception& e) {
+                LOG(error) << "Failed mapping shared_memory_object for region id '" << id << "': " << e.what();
+                throw;
             }
-            fRegion = mapped_region(fShmemObject, read_write, 0, 0, 0, flags);
         }
 
         InitializeQueues();