diff --git a/labgrid/driver/qemudriver.py b/labgrid/driver/qemudriver.py
index 1e32f3363..e93339ec0 100644
--- a/labgrid/driver/qemudriver.py
+++ b/labgrid/driver/qemudriver.py
@@ -367,7 +367,10 @@ def _write(self, data):
         return self._clientsocket.send(data)
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return f"QemuDriver({self.target.name})"
+        # self.target is None while binding is still in progress, so error
+        # messages raised during bind must not assume it is set
+        target_name = self.target.name if self.target is not None else None
+        return f"QemuDriver({target_name})"
 
     @Driver.check_active
     def interact(self):
diff --git a/labgrid/driver/serialdriver.py b/labgrid/driver/serialdriver.py
index 3b4d1f2b6..d8407df8c 100644
--- a/labgrid/driver/serialdriver.py
+++ b/labgrid/driver/serialdriver.py
@@ -115,4 +115,7 @@ def close(self):
             self.status = 0
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return f"SerialDriver({self.target.name})"
+        # self.target is None while binding is still in progress, so error
+        # messages raised during bind must not assume it is set
+        target_name = self.target.name if self.target is not None else None
+        return f"SerialDriver({target_name})"
diff --git a/tests/test_serialdriver.py b/tests/test_serialdriver.py
index b762d154b..8e26f6b02 100644
--- a/tests/test_serialdriver.py
+++ b/tests/test_serialdriver.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 
+from labgrid.binding import BindingError
 from labgrid.driver import SerialDriver
 from labgrid.exceptions import NoSupplierFoundError
 
@@ -9,6 +10,12 @@ def test_instanziation_fail_missing_port(self, target):
         with pytest.raises(NoSupplierFoundError):
             SerialDriver(target, "serial")
 
+    def test_unexpected_binding_reports_binding_error(self, target, serial_port):
+        target.set_binding_map({"port": "serial", "unexpected": "foo"})
+        with pytest.raises(BindingError) as excinfo:
+            SerialDriver(target, "serial")
+        assert "got unexpected bindings" in excinfo.value.msg
+
     def test_instanziation(self, target, serial_port, mocker):
         serial_mock = mocker.patch("serial.Serial")
         s = SerialDriver(target, "serial")