diff --git a/drivers/timer/orion-timer.c b/drivers/timer/orion-timer.c
index d0eab3ce781d..8c5cfa46762c 100644
--- a/drivers/timer/orion-timer.c
+++ b/drivers/timer/orion-timer.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <dm/device.h>
 #include <dm/fdtaddr.h>
 #include <timer.h>
+#include <debug_uart.h>
 
 #define TIMER_CTRL		0x00
 #define TIMER0_EN		BIT(0)
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ static void orion_timer_init(void *base, enum input_clock_type type)
 		return;
 	early_init_done = true;
 
+	printch('1'); // test-only
 	writel(~0, base + TIMER0_VAL);
 	writel(~0, base + TIMER0_RELOAD);
 
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ static uint64_t orion_timer_get_count(void *base)
 /* Early (e.g. bootstage etc) timer functions */
 static void notrace timer_early_init(void)
 {
+	printch('2'); // test-only
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARCH_MVEBU))
 		orion_timer_init((void *)MVEBU_TIMER_BASE, INPUT_CLOCK_25MHZ);
 	else
@@ -90,6 +93,7 @@ ulong timer_get_boot_us(void)
 {
 	u64 ticks;
 
+	printch('3'); // test-only
 	ticks = timer_early_get_count();
 	return lldiv(ticks * 1000, timer_early_get_rate());
 }
@@ -108,6 +112,7 @@ static int orion_timer_probe(struct udevice *dev)
 	enum input_clock_type type = dev_get_driver_data(dev);
 	struct orion_timer_priv *priv = dev_get_priv(dev);
 
+	printch('4'); // test-only
 	priv->base = devfdt_remap_addr_index(dev, 0);
 	if (!priv->base) {
 		debug("unable to map registers\n");