diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 38e1dbb4a2c..37aaeb30298 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 #include <util/fs.h>
 #include <util/fs_helpers.h>
 #include <util/moneystr.h>
+#include <util/result.h>
 #include <util/strencodings.h>
 #include <util/string.h>
 #include <util/syscall_sandbox.h>
@@ -949,7 +950,8 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction(const ArgsManager& args, bool use_syscall_sandb
         InitWarning(strprintf(_("Reducing -maxconnections from %d to %d, because of system limitations."), nUserMaxConnections, nMaxConnections));
 
     // ********************************************************* Step 3: parameter-to-internal-flags
-    init::SetLoggingCategories(args);
+    auto result = init::SetLoggingCategories(args);
+    if (!result) return InitError(util::ErrorString(result));
     init::SetLoggingLevel(args);
 
     nConnectTimeout = args.GetIntArg("-timeout", DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT);
diff --git a/src/init/common.cpp b/src/init/common.cpp
index 9a52a09cea0..2c36d30fdf1 100644
--- a/src/init/common.cpp
+++ b/src/init/common.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <tinyformat.h>
 #include <util/fs.h>
 #include <util/fs_helpers.h>
+#include <util/result.h>
 #include <util/string.h>
 #include <util/time.h>
 #include <util/translation.h>
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ void SetLoggingLevel(const ArgsManager& args)
     }
 }
 
-void SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args)
+util::Result<void> SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args)
 {
     if (args.IsArgSet("-debug")) {
         // Special-case: if -debug=0/-nodebug is set, turn off debugging messages
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ void SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args)
             [](std::string cat){return cat == "0" || cat == "none";})) {
             for (const auto& cat : categories) {
                 if (!LogInstance().EnableCategory(cat)) {
-                    InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debug", cat));
+                    return util::Error{strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debug", cat)};
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -97,9 +98,10 @@ void SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args)
     // Now remove the logging categories which were explicitly excluded
     for (const std::string& cat : args.GetArgs("-debugexclude")) {
         if (!LogInstance().DisableCategory(cat)) {
-            InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debugexclude", cat));
+            return util::Error{strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debugexclude", cat)};
         }
     }
+    return {};
 }
 
 bool StartLogging(const ArgsManager& args)
diff --git a/src/init/common.h b/src/init/common.h
index 44c3a502eea..1c7bcf86711 100644
--- a/src/init/common.h
+++ b/src/init/common.h
@@ -8,12 +8,14 @@
 #ifndef BITCOIN_INIT_COMMON_H
 #define BITCOIN_INIT_COMMON_H
 
+#include <util/result.h>
+
 class ArgsManager;
 
 namespace init {
 void AddLoggingArgs(ArgsManager& args);
 void SetLoggingOptions(const ArgsManager& args);
-void SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args);
+[[nodiscard]] util::Result<void> SetLoggingCategories(const ArgsManager& args);
 void SetLoggingLevel(const ArgsManager& args);
 bool StartLogging(const ArgsManager& args);
 void LogPackageVersion();