diff --git a/satpy/readers/hdf4_utils.py b/satpy/readers/hdf4_utils.py
index d6258d9d62..10f3b24b66 100644
--- a/satpy/readers/hdf4_utils.py
+++ b/satpy/readers/hdf4_utils.py
@@ -18,10 +18,12 @@
 """Helpers for reading hdf4-based files."""
 
 import logging
+import os
 
 import dask.array as da
 import numpy as np
 import xarray as xr
+from dask.base import tokenize
 from pyhdf.SD import SD, SDC, SDS
 
 from satpy.readers.file_handlers import BaseFileHandler
@@ -45,12 +47,22 @@
 }
 
 
-def from_sds(var, *args, **kwargs):
+def from_sds(var, src_path, **kwargs):
     """Create a dask array from a SD dataset."""
-    var.__dict__["dtype"] = np.dtype(HTYPE_TO_DTYPE[var.info()[3]])
-    shape = var.info()[2]
+    var_info = var.info()
+    var.__dict__["dtype"] = np.dtype(HTYPE_TO_DTYPE[var_info[3]])
+    shape = var_info[2]
     var.__dict__["shape"] = shape if isinstance(shape, (tuple, list)) else tuple(shape)
-    return da.from_array(var, *args, **kwargs)
+
+    name = kwargs.pop("name", None)
+    if name is None:
+        var_name = var_info[0]
+        tokenize_args = (os.fspath(src_path), var_name)
+        if kwargs:
+            tokenize_args += (kwargs,)
+        # put variable name in the front for easier dask debugging
+        name = var_name + "-" + tokenize(*tokenize_args)
+    return da.from_array(var, name=name, **kwargs)
 
 
 class HDF4FileHandler(BaseFileHandler):
@@ -92,7 +104,7 @@ def collect_metadata(self, name, obj):
 
     def _open_xarray_dataset(self, val, chunks=CHUNK_SIZE):
         """Read the band in blocks."""
-        dask_arr = from_sds(val, chunks=chunks)
+        dask_arr = from_sds(val, self.filename, chunks=chunks)
         attrs = val.attributes()
         return xr.DataArray(dask_arr, dims=("y", "x"),
                             attrs=attrs)
diff --git a/satpy/readers/hdfeos_base.py b/satpy/readers/hdfeos_base.py
index 3fd920c01f..7c25e1d09a 100644
--- a/satpy/readers/hdfeos_base.py
+++ b/satpy/readers/hdfeos_base.py
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ def load_dataset(self, dataset_name, is_category=False):
 
         dataset = self._read_dataset_in_file(dataset_name)
         chunks = self._chunks_for_variable(dataset)
-        dask_arr = from_sds(dataset, chunks=chunks)
+        dask_arr = from_sds(dataset, self.filename, chunks=chunks)
         dims = ("y", "x") if dask_arr.ndim == 2 else None
         data = xr.DataArray(dask_arr, dims=dims,
                             attrs=dataset.attributes())
diff --git a/satpy/readers/modis_l1b.py b/satpy/readers/modis_l1b.py
index 8280b30065..17bf5d56ae 100644
--- a/satpy/readers/modis_l1b.py
+++ b/satpy/readers/modis_l1b.py
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ def get_dataset(self, key, info):
         var_attrs = subdata.attributes()
         uncertainty = self.sd.select(var_name + "_Uncert_Indexes")
         chunks = self._chunks_for_variable(subdata)
-        array = xr.DataArray(from_sds(subdata, chunks=chunks)[band_index, :, :],
+        array = xr.DataArray(from_sds(subdata, self.filename, chunks=chunks)[band_index, :, :],
                              dims=["y", "x"]).astype(np.float32)
         valid_range = var_attrs["valid_range"]
         valid_min = np.float32(valid_range[0])
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ def _mask_uncertain_pixels(self, array, uncertainty, band_index):
         if not self._mask_saturated:
             return array
         uncertainty_chunks = self._chunks_for_variable(uncertainty)
-        band_uncertainty = from_sds(uncertainty, chunks=uncertainty_chunks)[band_index, :, :]
+        band_uncertainty = from_sds(uncertainty, self.filename, chunks=uncertainty_chunks)[band_index, :, :]
         array = array.where(band_uncertainty < 15)
         return array
 
diff --git a/satpy/readers/modis_l2.py b/satpy/readers/modis_l2.py
index 8fdf1c69bb..2f2555692d 100644
--- a/satpy/readers/modis_l2.py
+++ b/satpy/readers/modis_l2.py
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ def read_geo_resolution(metadata):
     def _select_hdf_dataset(self, hdf_dataset_name, byte_dimension):
         """Load a dataset from HDF-EOS level 2 file."""
         dataset = self.sd.select(hdf_dataset_name)
-        dask_arr = from_sds(dataset, chunks=CHUNK_SIZE)
+        dask_arr = from_sds(dataset, self.filename, chunks=CHUNK_SIZE)
         attrs = dataset.attributes()
         dims = ["y", "x"]
         if byte_dimension == 0: