diff --git a/player/src/bin/play.rs b/player/src/bin/play.rs
index 3a05511b80..cc62010fbb 100644
--- a/player/src/bin/play.rs
+++ b/player/src/bin/play.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ fn main() {
             window.window_handle().unwrap().into(),
             wgc::id::TypedId::zip(0, 1, wgt::Backend::Empty),
         )
-    };
+    }
+    .unwrap();
 
     let device = match actions.pop() {
         Some(trace::Action::Init { desc, backend }) => {
diff --git a/wgpu-core/src/instance.rs b/wgpu-core/src/instance.rs
index 3def7b6164..2101fb8edc 100644
--- a/wgpu-core/src/instance.rs
+++ b/wgpu-core/src/instance.rs
@@ -479,68 +479,55 @@ impl<G: GlobalIdentityHandlerFactory> Global<G> {
         display_handle: raw_window_handle::RawDisplayHandle,
         window_handle: raw_window_handle::RawWindowHandle,
         id_in: Input<G, SurfaceId>,
-    ) -> SurfaceId {
+    ) -> Result<SurfaceId, hal::InstanceError> {
         profiling::scope!("Instance::create_surface");
 
         fn init<A: HalApi>(
-            any_surface: &mut Option<AnySurface>,
             inst: &Option<A::Instance>,
             display_handle: raw_window_handle::RawDisplayHandle,
             window_handle: raw_window_handle::RawWindowHandle,
-        ) {
-            if any_surface.is_none() {
-                if let Some(surface) = inst.as_ref().and_then(|inst| unsafe {
-                    match inst.create_surface(display_handle, window_handle) {
-                        Ok(raw) => Some(HalSurface::<A> { raw: Arc::new(raw) }),
-                        Err(e) => {
-                            log::warn!("Error: {:?}", e);
-                            None
-                        }
-                    }
-                }) {
-                    *any_surface = Some(AnySurface::new(surface));
+        ) -> Option<Result<AnySurface, hal::InstanceError>> {
+            inst.as_ref().map(|inst| unsafe {
+                match inst.create_surface(display_handle, window_handle) {
+                    Ok(raw) => Ok(AnySurface::new(HalSurface::<A> { raw: Arc::new(raw) })),
+                    Err(e) => Err(e),
                 }
-            }
+            })
         }
 
-        let mut hal_surface = None;
+        let mut hal_surface: Option<Result<AnySurface, hal::InstanceError>> = None;
+
         #[cfg(all(feature = "vulkan", not(target_arch = "wasm32")))]
-        init::<hal::api::Vulkan>(
-            &mut hal_surface,
-            &self.instance.vulkan,
-            display_handle,
-            window_handle,
-        );
+        if hal_surface.is_none() {
+            hal_surface =
+                init::<hal::api::Vulkan>(&self.instance.vulkan, display_handle, window_handle);
+        }
         #[cfg(all(feature = "metal", any(target_os = "macos", target_os = "ios")))]
-        init::<hal::api::Metal>(
-            &mut hal_surface,
-            &self.instance.metal,
-            display_handle,
-            window_handle,
-        );
+        if hal_surface.is_none() {
+            hal_surface =
+                init::<hal::api::Metal>(&self.instance.metal, display_handle, window_handle);
+        }
         #[cfg(all(feature = "dx12", windows))]
-        init::<hal::api::Dx12>(
-            &mut hal_surface,
-            &self.instance.dx12,
-            display_handle,
-            window_handle,
-        );
+        if hal_surface.is_none() {
+            hal_surface =
+                init::<hal::api::Dx12>(&self.instance.dx12, display_handle, window_handle);
+        }
         #[cfg(feature = "gles")]
-        init::<hal::api::Gles>(
-            &mut hal_surface,
-            &self.instance.gl,
-            display_handle,
-            window_handle,
-        );
+        if hal_surface.is_none() {
+            hal_surface = init::<hal::api::Gles>(&self.instance.gl, display_handle, window_handle);
+        }
+
+        //  This is only None if there's no instance at all.
+        let hal_surface = hal_surface.unwrap()?;
 
         let surface = Surface {
             presentation: Mutex::new(None),
             info: ResourceInfo::new("<Surface>"),
-            raw: hal_surface.unwrap(),
+            raw: hal_surface,
         };
 
         let (id, _) = self.surfaces.prepare::<G>(id_in).assign(surface);
-        id
+        Ok(id)
     }
 
     /// # Safety
diff --git a/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs b/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
index c9efec3f75..05a0db4263 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ impl crate::Context for Context {
                 raw_window_handle,
             } => unsafe {
                 self.0
-                    .instance_create_surface(raw_display_handle, raw_window_handle, ())
+                    .instance_create_surface(raw_display_handle, raw_window_handle, ())?
             },
 
             #[cfg(metal)]