diff --git a/src/pacman/conf.c b/src/pacman/conf.c
index 2985aba1..ab6dae08 100644
--- a/src/pacman/conf.c
+++ b/src/pacman/conf.c
@@ -668,8 +668,8 @@ static int setup_libalpm(void)
 	/* initialize library */
 	handle = alpm_initialize(config->rootdir, config->dbpath, &err);
 	if(!handle) {
-		pm_printf(ALPM_LOG_ERROR, _("failed to initialize alpm library (%s)\n"),
-		        alpm_strerror(err));
+		pm_printf(ALPM_LOG_ERROR, _("failed to initialize alpm library\n(%s: %s)\n"),
+		        alpm_strerror(err), config->dbpath);
 		if(err == ALPM_ERR_DB_VERSION) {
 			pm_printf(ALPM_LOG_ERROR, _("  try running pacman-db-upgrade\n"));
 		}