diff --git a/src/bitcoin-chainstate.cpp b/src/bitcoin-chainstate.cpp
index 3f2b298c1f3..1817aa1a53d 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin-chainstate.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-chainstate.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     // We can't use a goto here, but we can use an assert since none of the
     // things instantiated so far requires running the epilogue to be torn down
     // properly
-    assert(kernel::SanityChecks(kernel_context));
+    assert(!kernel::SanityChecks(kernel_context).has_value());
 
     // Necessary for CheckInputScripts (eventually called by ProcessNewBlock),
     // which will try the script cache first and fall back to actually
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 108f5c99d32..d0fd6074b1a 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -1094,7 +1094,21 @@ static bool LockDataDirectory(bool probeOnly)
 bool AppInitSanityChecks(const kernel::Context& kernel)
 {
     // ********************************************************* Step 4: sanity checks
-    if (!kernel::SanityChecks(kernel)) {
+    auto maybe_error = kernel::SanityChecks(kernel);
+
+    if (maybe_error.has_value()) {
+        switch (maybe_error.value()) {
+        case kernel::SanityCheckError::ERROR_ECC:
+            InitError(Untranslated("Elliptic curve cryptography sanity check failure. Aborting."));
+            break;
+        case kernel::SanityCheckError::ERROR_RANDOM:
+            InitError(Untranslated("OS cryptographic RNG sanity check failure. Aborting."));
+            break;
+        case kernel::SanityCheckError::ERROR_CHRONO:
+            InitError(Untranslated("Clock epoch mismatch. Aborting."));
+            break;
+        } // no default case, so the compiler can warn about missing cases
+
         return InitError(strprintf(_("Initialization sanity check failed. %s is shutting down."), PACKAGE_NAME));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/kernel/checks.cpp b/src/kernel/checks.cpp
index a25617bea51..2a1dd3bfa21 100644
--- a/src/kernel/checks.cpp
+++ b/src/kernel/checks.cpp
@@ -5,29 +5,26 @@
 #include <kernel/checks.h>
 
 #include <key.h>
-#include <node/ui_interface.h>
 #include <random.h>
 #include <util/time.h>
-#include <util/translation.h>
-
-#include <memory>
 
 namespace kernel {
 
-bool SanityChecks(const Context&) {
+std::optional<SanityCheckError> SanityChecks(const Context&)
+{
     if (!ECC_InitSanityCheck()) {
-        return InitError(Untranslated("Elliptic curve cryptography sanity check failure. Aborting."));
+        return SanityCheckError::ERROR_ECC;
     }
 
     if (!Random_SanityCheck()) {
-        return InitError(Untranslated("OS cryptographic RNG sanity check failure. Aborting."));
+        return SanityCheckError::ERROR_RANDOM;
     }
 
     if (!ChronoSanityCheck()) {
-        return InitError(Untranslated("Clock epoch mismatch. Aborting."));
+        return SanityCheckError::ERROR_CHRONO;
     }
 
-    return true;
+    return std::nullopt;
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/kernel/checks.h b/src/kernel/checks.h
index 786281fa2c1..80b207f607d 100644
--- a/src/kernel/checks.h
+++ b/src/kernel/checks.h
@@ -5,14 +5,22 @@
 #ifndef BITCOIN_KERNEL_CHECKS_H
 #define BITCOIN_KERNEL_CHECKS_H
 
+#include <optional>
+
 namespace kernel {
 
 struct Context;
 
+enum class SanityCheckError {
+    ERROR_ECC,
+    ERROR_RANDOM,
+    ERROR_CHRONO,
+};
+
 /**
  *  Ensure a usable environment with all necessary library support.
  */
-bool SanityChecks(const Context&);
+std::optional<SanityCheckError> SanityChecks(const Context&);
 
 }