diff --git a/src/core/execute.c b/src/core/execute.c
index d21de8c41e..98e54acf77 100644
--- a/src/core/execute.c
+++ b/src/core/execute.c
@@ -6068,7 +6068,12 @@ static int exec_runtime_add(
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int exec_runtime_make(Manager *m, const ExecContext *c, const char *id, ExecRuntime **ret) {
+static int exec_runtime_make(
+                Manager *m,
+                const ExecContext *c,
+                const char *id,
+                ExecRuntime **ret) {
+
         _cleanup_(namespace_cleanup_tmpdirp) char *tmp_dir = NULL, *var_tmp_dir = NULL;
         _cleanup_close_pair_ int netns_storage_socket[2] = { -1, -1 };
         int r;
@@ -6078,8 +6083,10 @@ static int exec_runtime_make(Manager *m, const ExecContext *c, const char *id, E
         assert(id);
 
         /* It is not necessary to create ExecRuntime object. */
-        if (!c->private_network && !c->private_tmp && !c->network_namespace_path)
+        if (!c->private_network && !c->private_tmp && !c->network_namespace_path) {
+                *ret = NULL;
                 return 0;
+        }
 
         if (c->private_tmp &&
             !(prefixed_path_strv_contains(c->inaccessible_paths, "/tmp") &&
@@ -6115,14 +6122,20 @@ int exec_runtime_acquire(Manager *m, const ExecContext *c, const char *id, bool
                 /* We already have a ExecRuntime object, let's increase the ref count and reuse it */
                 goto ref;
 
-        if (!create)
+        if (!create) {
+                *ret = NULL;
                 return 0;
+        }
 
         /* If not found, then create a new object. */
         r = exec_runtime_make(m, c, id, &rt);
-        if (r <= 0)
-                /* When r == 0, it is not necessary to create ExecRuntime object. */
+        if (r < 0)
                 return r;
+        if (r == 0) {
+                /* When r == 0, it is not necessary to create ExecRuntime object. */
+                *ret = NULL;
+                return 0;
+        }
 
 ref:
         /* increment reference counter. */
@@ -6348,7 +6361,7 @@ int exec_runtime_deserialize_one(Manager *m, const char *value, FDSet *fds) {
                 r = safe_atoi(buf, &fdpair[1]);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_debug_errno(r, "Unable to parse exec-runtime specification netns-socket-1=%s: %m", buf);
-                if (!fdset_contains(fds, fdpair[0]))
+                if (!fdset_contains(fds, fdpair[1]))
                         return log_debug_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EBADF),
                                                "exec-runtime specification netns-socket-1= refers to unknown fd %d: %m", fdpair[1]);
                 fdpair[1] = fdset_remove(fds, fdpair[1]);
diff --git a/src/core/manager.c b/src/core/manager.c
index d85d938e7b..6a8c4bf362 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.c
+++ b/src/core/manager.c
@@ -3492,6 +3492,24 @@ int manager_deserialize(Manager *m, FILE *f, FDSet *fds) {
         assert(m);
         assert(f);
 
+        if (DEBUG_LOGGING) {
+                if (fdset_isempty(fds))
+                        log_debug("No file descriptors passed");
+                else {
+                        int fd;
+
+                        FDSET_FOREACH(fd, fds) {
+                                _cleanup_free_ char *fn = NULL;
+
+                                r = fd_get_path(fd, &fn);
+                                if (r < 0)
+                                        log_debug_errno(r, "Received serialized fd %i → %m", fd);
+                                else
+                                        log_debug("Received serialized fd %i → %s", fd, strna(fn));
+                        }
+                }
+        }
+
         log_debug("Deserializing state...");
 
         /* If we are not in reload mode yet, enter it now. Not that this is recursive, a caller might already have