diff --git a/include/console/console.h b/include/console/console.h
index 05136ce7298..56fe74ef7ed 100644
--- a/include/console/console.h
+++ b/include/console/console.h
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ extern "C" {
  *  and incompatible with, callback (push-style) console handling
  *  (via console_input_fn callback, etc.).
  *
- *  @return N/A
+ * @return 0 on success, error code (<0) otherwise
  */
-void console_init(void);
+int console_init(void);
 
 /**
  * @brief Read data from console.
diff --git a/subsys/console/getchar.c b/subsys/console/getchar.c
index 7d805556d38..3c53a400f2c 100644
--- a/subsys/console/getchar.c
+++ b/subsys/console/getchar.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <device.h>
 #include <console/console.h>
 #include <console/tty.h>
+#include <uart.h>
 
 static struct tty_serial console_serial;
 
@@ -46,12 +47,29 @@ int console_getchar(void)
 	return c;
 }
 
-void console_init(void)
+int console_init(void)
 {
 	struct device *uart_dev;
+	int ret;
 
 	uart_dev = device_get_binding(CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE_ON_DEV_NAME);
-	tty_init(&console_serial, uart_dev);
+	ret = tty_init(&console_serial, uart_dev);
+
+	if (ret) {
+		return ret;
+	}
+
+	/* Checks device driver supports for interrupt driven data transfers. */
+	if (CONFIG_CONSOLE_GETCHAR_BUFSIZE + CONFIG_CONSOLE_PUTCHAR_BUFSIZE) {
+		const struct uart_driver_api *api =
+			(const struct uart_driver_api *)uart_dev->driver_api;
+		if (!api->irq_callback_set) {
+			return -ENOTSUP;
+		}
+	}
+
 	tty_set_tx_buf(&console_serial, console_txbuf, sizeof(console_txbuf));
 	tty_set_rx_buf(&console_serial, console_rxbuf, sizeof(console_rxbuf));
+
+	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/subsys/console/tty.c b/subsys/console/tty.c
index a73d255e801..4451bfc234e 100644
--- a/subsys/console/tty.c
+++ b/subsys/console/tty.c
@@ -238,6 +238,10 @@ ssize_t tty_read(struct tty_serial *tty, void *buf, size_t size)
 
 int tty_init(struct tty_serial *tty, struct device *uart_dev)
 {
+	if (!uart_dev) {
+		return -ENODEV;
+	}
+
 	tty->uart_dev = uart_dev;
 
 	/* We start in unbuffer mode. */