diff --git a/initrd/buildinitrd.sh b/initrd/buildinitrd.sh
index 27628e086..3bfda2100 100755
--- a/initrd/buildinitrd.sh
+++ b/initrd/buildinitrd.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ copy()
   if [ -n "$file" ] ; then
     cp $file $WDIR/$file
   else
-    echo "Missing required file: $1 for directory $2"
-    rm -rf $WDIR
+    echo "ERROR: required binary '$1' not found in the build container (for '$2')." >&2
+    echo "       Add it to initrd/ukl-base/Dockerfile, or remove it from the file list in buildinitrd.sh." >&2
     exit 1
   fi
 }
diff --git a/initrd/ukl-base/Dockerfile b/initrd/ukl-base/Dockerfile
index 3e69632e5..34c95e9ff 100644
--- a/initrd/ukl-base/Dockerfile
+++ b/initrd/ukl-base/Dockerfile
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ FROM fedora:36
 RUN dnf update -y
 RUN dnf -y install sed elfutils-libelf-devel bc hostname perl dropbear \
         msr-tools wget dnf-plugins-core bzip2 curl xz cpio shadow-utils procps-ng iproute \
-	pciutils net-tools openssh-server less ethtool
+	pciutils net-tools openssh-server less ethtool perf