diff --git a/piker/brokers/ib/broker.py b/piker/brokers/ib/broker.py
index 37b6f602..af6af5e8 100644
--- a/piker/brokers/ib/broker.py
+++ b/piker/brokers/ib/broker.py
@@ -991,6 +991,9 @@ _statuses: dict[str, str] = {
     # TODO: see a current ``ib_insync`` issue around this:
     # https://github.com/erdewit/ib_insync/issues/363
     'Inactive': 'pending',
+
+    # XXX, uhh wut the heck is this?
+    'ValidationError': 'error',
 }
 
 _action_map = {
@@ -1063,8 +1066,19 @@ async def deliver_trade_events(
     # TODO: for some reason we can receive a ``None`` here when the
     # ib-gw goes down? Not sure exactly how that's happening looking
     # at the eventkit code above but we should probably handle it...
+    event_name: str
+    item: (
+        Trade
+        |tuple[Trade, Fill]
+        |CommissionReport
+        |IbPosition
+        |dict
+    )
     async for event_name, item in trade_event_stream:
-        log.info(f'Relaying `{event_name}`:\n{pformat(item)}')
+        log.info(
+            f'Relaying {event_name!r}:\n'
+            f'{pformat(item)}\n'
+        )
         match event_name:
             case 'orderStatusEvent':
 
@@ -1075,11 +1089,12 @@ async def deliver_trade_events(
                 trade: Trade = item
                 reqid: str = str(trade.order.orderId)
                 status: OrderStatus = trade.orderStatus
-                status_str: str = _statuses[status.status]
+                status_str: str = _statuses.get(
+                    status.status,
+                    'error',
+                )
                 remaining: float = status.remaining
-                if (
-                    status_str == 'filled'
-                ):
+                if status_str == 'filled':
                     fill: Fill = trade.fills[-1]
                     execu: Execution = fill.execution
 
@@ -1110,6 +1125,12 @@ async def deliver_trade_events(
                         # all units were cleared.
                         status_str = 'closed'
 
+                elif status_str == 'error':
+                    log.error(
+                        f'IB reported error status for order ??\n'
+                        f'{status.status!r}\n'
+                    )
+
                 # skip duplicate filled updates - we get the deats
                 # from the execution details event
                 msg = BrokerdStatus(