diff --git a/gst/gstelementfactory.c b/gst/gstelementfactory.c
index e71bb9ab78..798b147027 100644
--- a/gst/gstelementfactory.c
+++ b/gst/gstelementfactory.c
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 #include "gstregistrypool.h"
 #include "gstinfo.h"
 
+#define GST_CAT_DEFAULT GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY
+
 static void 		gst_element_factory_class_init 		(GstElementFactoryClass *klass);
 static void 		gst_element_factory_init 		(GstElementFactory *factory);
 
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ gst_element_factory_find (const gchar *name)
     return GST_ELEMENT_FACTORY (feature);
 
   /* this should be an ERROR */
-  GST_CAT_DEBUG (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY,"no such elementfactory \"%s\"", name);
+  GST_DEBUG ("no such elementfactory \"%s\"", name);
   return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -208,12 +210,13 @@ gst_element_factory_create (GstElementFactory *factory,
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (factory != NULL, NULL);
 
-  if (!gst_plugin_feature_ensure_loaded (GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE (factory)))
+  if (!gst_plugin_feature_ensure_loaded (GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE (factory))) {
+    GST_INFO ("could not load element factory for element \"%s\"", name);
     return NULL;
+  }
 
-  GST_CAT_DEBUG (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY,
-             "creating element from factory \"%s\" (name \"%s\", type %d)", 
-             GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE_NAME (factory), GST_STR_NULL (name), (gint) factory->type);
+  GST_LOG ("creating element from factory \"%s\" (name \"%s\", type %d)", 
+           GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE_NAME (factory), GST_STR_NULL (name), (gint) factory->type);
 
   if (factory->type == 0) {
       g_critical ("Factory for `%s' has no type",
@@ -224,7 +227,7 @@ gst_element_factory_create (GstElementFactory *factory,
   /* attempt to set the elementfactory class pointer if necessary */
   oclass = GST_ELEMENT_CLASS (g_type_class_ref (factory->type));
   if (oclass->elementfactory == NULL) {
-    GST_CAT_DEBUG (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY, "class %s", GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE_NAME (factory));
+    GST_DEBUG ("class %s", GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE_NAME (factory));
     oclass->elementfactory = factory;
 
     /* copy pad template pointers to the element class, 
@@ -265,20 +268,19 @@ gst_element_factory_make (const gchar *factoryname, const gchar *name)
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (factoryname != NULL, NULL);
 
-  GST_CAT_DEBUG (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY, "gstelementfactory: make \"%s\" \"%s\"", 
-             factoryname, GST_STR_NULL (name));
+  GST_LOG ("gstelementfactory: make \"%s\" \"%s\"", 
+           factoryname, GST_STR_NULL (name));
 
   /* gst_plugin_load_element_factory (factoryname); */
   factory = gst_element_factory_find (factoryname);
   if (factory == NULL) {
-    GST_CAT_INFO (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY,"no such element factory \"%s\"!",
+    GST_INFO ("no such element factory \"%s\"!",
 	      factoryname);
     return NULL;
   }
   element = gst_element_factory_create (factory, name);
   if (element == NULL) {
-    GST_CAT_INFO (GST_CAT_ELEMENT_FACTORY,
-	      "couldn't create instance of element factory \"%s\"!",
+    GST_INFO ("couldn't create instance of element factory \"%s\"!",
 	      factoryname);
     return NULL;
   }