diff --git a/libraries/chain/controller.cpp b/libraries/chain/controller.cpp
index bc8ab5cd4e..54bdc46176 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/controller.cpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/controller.cpp
@@ -1698,7 +1698,9 @@ struct controller_impl {
 
          auto pending_head = forkdb.pending_head();
          if( pending_head && blog_head && start_block_num <= blog_head->block_num() ) {
-            ilog( "fork database head ${h}, root ${r}", ("h", pending_head->block_num())( "r", forkdb.root()->block_num() ) );
+            ilog("fork database head ${hn}:${h}, root ${rn}:${r}",
+                 ("hn", pending_head->block_num())("h", pending_head->id())
+                 ("rn", forkdb.root()->block_num())("r", forkdb.root()->id()));
             if( pending_head->block_num() < chain_head.block_num() || chain_head.block_num() < forkdb.root()->block_num() ) {
                ilog( "resetting fork database with new last irreversible block as the new root: ${id}", ("id", chain_head.id()) );
                fork_db_reset_root_to_chain_head();
diff --git a/libraries/chain/fork_database.cpp b/libraries/chain/fork_database.cpp
index ff8d81e253..df3e70816e 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/fork_database.cpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/fork_database.cpp
@@ -209,6 +209,9 @@ namespace eosio::chain {
    void fork_database_impl<BSP>::close_impl(std::ofstream& out) {
       assert(!!head && !!root); // if head or root are null, we don't save and shouldn't get here
 
+      ilog("Writing fork_database with root ${rn}:${r} and head ${hn}:${h}",
+           ("rn", root->block_num())("r", root->id())("hn", head->block_num())("h", head->id()));
+
       fc::raw::pack( out, *root );
 
       uint32_t num_blocks_in_fork_db = index.size();
@@ -719,8 +722,7 @@ namespace eosio::chain {
       auto in_use_value = in_use.load();
       // check that fork_dbs are in a consistent state
       if (!legacy_valid && !savanna_valid) {
-         wlog( "fork_database is in a bad state when closing; not writing out '${filename}', legacy_valid=${l}, savanna_valid=${s}",
-               ("filename", fork_db_file)("l", legacy_valid)("s", savanna_valid) );
+         ilog("No fork_database to persist");
          return;
       } else if (legacy_valid && savanna_valid && in_use_value == in_use_t::savanna) {
          legacy_valid = false; // don't write legacy if not needed, we delay 'clear' of legacy until close
@@ -729,6 +731,7 @@ namespace eosio::chain {
               (savanna_valid && (in_use_value == in_use_t::savanna)) ||
               (legacy_valid && savanna_valid && (in_use_value == in_use_t::both)) );
 
+      ilog("Persisting to fork_database file: ${f}", ("f", fork_db_file));
       std::ofstream out( fork_db_file.generic_string().c_str(), std::ios::out | std::ios::binary | std::ofstream::trunc );
 
       fc::raw::pack( out, magic_number );