diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
index 9feea02e7d3730c9350c6c6cfda722acb2512c19..5c9fc4070fd24490b2201aef2734f79b59ae7dbc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
@@ -1003,6 +1003,7 @@ struct ath10k {
 
 	struct completion install_key_done;
 
+	int last_wmi_vdev_start_status;
 	struct completion vdev_setup_done;
 
 	struct workqueue_struct *workqueue;
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
index 9d033da46ec2ef57e6257b67c7da614af35cc225..d3d33cc2adfdeed1f3bf379706a161ceb3599630 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
@@ -968,7 +968,7 @@ static inline int ath10k_vdev_setup_sync(struct ath10k *ar)
 	if (time_left == 0)
 		return -ETIMEDOUT;
 
-	return 0;
+	return ar->last_wmi_vdev_start_status;
 }
 
 static int ath10k_monitor_vdev_start(struct ath10k *ar, int vdev_id)
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.c
index 40b36e73bb48c1310bd3f156e8ec2e2c0a1a93d0..aefc92d2c09b930babb9d82af8342fffc34d48fd 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.c
@@ -3248,18 +3248,31 @@ void ath10k_wmi_event_vdev_start_resp(struct ath10k *ar, struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
 	struct wmi_vdev_start_ev_arg arg = {};
 	int ret;
+	u32 status;
 
 	ath10k_dbg(ar, ATH10K_DBG_WMI, "WMI_VDEV_START_RESP_EVENTID\n");
 
+	ar->last_wmi_vdev_start_status = 0;
+
 	ret = ath10k_wmi_pull_vdev_start(ar, skb, &arg);
 	if (ret) {
 		ath10k_warn(ar, "failed to parse vdev start event: %d\n", ret);
-		return;
+		ar->last_wmi_vdev_start_status = ret;
+		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (WARN_ON(__le32_to_cpu(arg.status)))
-		return;
+	status = __le32_to_cpu(arg.status);
+	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(status)) {
+		ath10k_warn(ar, "vdev-start-response reports status error: %d (%s)\n",
+			    status, (status == WMI_VDEV_START_CHAN_INVALID) ?
+			    "chan-invalid" : "unknown");
+		/* Setup is done one way or another though, so we should still
+		 * do the completion, so don't return here.
+		 */
+		ar->last_wmi_vdev_start_status = -EINVAL;
+	}
 
+out:
 	complete(&ar->vdev_setup_done);
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.h
index 36220258e3c7e686af0ffb5a2ab82869b8be5b01..e341cfb3fcc26845bb579ee1f4dbfa9088b1ae4f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/wmi.h
@@ -6642,11 +6642,17 @@ struct wmi_ch_info_ev_arg {
 	__le32 rx_frame_count;
 };
 
+/* From 10.4 firmware, not sure all have the same values. */
+enum wmi_vdev_start_status {
+	WMI_VDEV_START_OK = 0,
+	WMI_VDEV_START_CHAN_INVALID,
+};
+
 struct wmi_vdev_start_ev_arg {
 	__le32 vdev_id;
 	__le32 req_id;
 	__le32 resp_type; /* %WMI_VDEV_RESP_ */
-	__le32 status;
+	__le32 status; /* See wmi_vdev_start_status enum above */
 };
 
 struct wmi_peer_kick_ev_arg {