diff --git a/src/cmake/build_libuhdr.cmake b/src/cmake/build_libuhdr.cmake
index ec4f6e9fd8..777b50b894 100644
--- a/src/cmake/build_libuhdr.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/build_libuhdr.cmake
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ build_dependency_with_cmake(libuhdr
         -D CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR=lib
         -D CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON
         -D UHDR_BUILD_EXAMPLES=FALSE
+        -D UHDR_BUILD_DEPS=FALSE
         -D UHDR_ENABLE_LOGS=TRUE
     )
 
diff --git a/src/cmake/modules/Findlibuhdr.cmake b/src/cmake/modules/Findlibuhdr.cmake
index ee5538ff95..b1f8c2a7af 100644
--- a/src/cmake/modules/Findlibuhdr.cmake
+++ b/src/cmake/modules/Findlibuhdr.cmake
@@ -28,3 +28,7 @@ find_package_handle_standard_args (libuhdr
     REQUIRED_VARS   LIBUHDR_INCLUDE_DIR
                     LIBUHDR_LIBRARY
     )
+
+if (libuhdr_FOUND)
+  message("libuhdr: includedir=${LIBUHDR_INCLUDE_DIR} library=${LIBUHDR_LIBRARY}")
+endif()
diff --git a/src/jpeg.imageio/CMakeLists.txt b/src/jpeg.imageio/CMakeLists.txt
index feb222358a..de3c67d164 100644
--- a/src/jpeg.imageio/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/jpeg.imageio/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,13 +4,19 @@
 
 if (libuhdr_FOUND)
     set (UHDR_DEFS USE_UHDR)
+else ()
+    set (LIBUHDR_INCLUDE_DIR "")
+    set (LIBUHDR_LIBRARY "")
+    set (UHDR_DEFS "")
 endif ()
 
+message("UHDR_DEFS: ${UHDR_DEFS}")
+
 add_oiio_plugin (jpeginput.cpp jpegoutput.cpp
                  INCLUDE_DIRS ${LIBUHDR_INCLUDE_DIR}
                  LINK_LIBRARIES
                      $<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:libjpeg-turbo::jpeg>
                      $<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:JPEG::JPEG>
                      ${LIBUHDR_LIBRARY}
-                 DEFINITIONS ${UHDR_DEFS}
+                 DEFINITIONS "${UHDR_DEFS}"
                  )
diff --git a/src/jpeg.imageio/jpeginput.cpp b/src/jpeg.imageio/jpeginput.cpp
index 106222c79e..c3bcd06e57 100644
--- a/src/jpeg.imageio/jpeginput.cpp
+++ b/src/jpeg.imageio/jpeginput.cpp
@@ -337,6 +337,8 @@ JpgInput::open(const std::string& name, ImageSpec& newspec)
     if (m_spec.find_attribute("hdrgm:Version"))
         m_is_uhdr = read_uhdr(m_io);
 
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: m_is_uhdr=" << m_is_uhdr << std::endl;
+
     newspec = m_spec;
     return true;
 }
@@ -418,15 +420,20 @@ bool
 JpgInput::read_uhdr(Filesystem::IOProxy* ioproxy)
 {
 #if defined(USE_UHDR)
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: read_uhdr main content" << std::endl;
     // Read entire file content into buffer.
     const size_t buffer_size = ioproxy->size();
     std::vector<unsigned char> buffer(buffer_size);
     ioproxy->pread(buffer.data(), buffer_size, 0);
 
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: proxytype=" << ioproxy->proxytype() << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: proxytype=" << buffer_size << std::endl;
+
     // Check if this is an actual Ultra HDR image.
     const bool detect_uhdr = is_uhdr_image(buffer.data(), buffer.size());
-    if (!detect_uhdr)
-        return false;
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: detect_uhdr=" << detect_uhdr << std::endl;
+    //if (!detect_uhdr)
+    //    return false;
 
     // Create Ultra HDR decoder.
     // Do not forget to release it once we don't need it,
@@ -446,12 +453,14 @@ JpgInput::read_uhdr(Filesystem::IOProxy* ioproxy)
     // Decode Ultra HDR image
     // and check for decoding errors.
     uhdr_error_info_t err_info = uhdr_decode(m_uhdr_dec);
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: error_code=" << err_info.error_code << std::endl;
 
     if (err_info.error_code != UHDR_CODEC_OK) {
         errorfmt("Ultra HDR decoding failed with error code {}",
                  int(err_info.error_code));
         if (err_info.has_detail != 0)
-            errorfmt("Additional error details: {}", err_info.detail);
+            std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: error details = " << err_info.detail << std::endl;
+            //errorfmt("Additional error details: {}", err_info.detail);
         uhdr_release_decoder(m_uhdr_dec);
         return false;
     }
@@ -488,6 +497,7 @@ JpgInput::read_uhdr(Filesystem::IOProxy* ioproxy)
 
     return true;
 #else
+    std::cout << "INVESTIGATE: read_uhdr placeholder" << std::endl;
     return false;
 #endif
 }