diff --git a/src/cpp/ripple/Application.cpp b/src/cpp/ripple/Application.cpp
index 9840ffc9dd..4c6cd93345 100644
--- a/src/cpp/ripple/Application.cpp
+++ b/src/cpp/ripple/Application.cpp
@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ void Application::setup()
 		leveldb::Status status = leveldb::DB::Open(options, (theConfig.DATA_DIR / "hashnode").string(), &mHashNodeLDB);
 		if (!status.ok() || !mHashNodeLDB)
 		{
-			cLog(lsFATAL) << "Unable to open/create hash node db: " << (theConfig.DATA_DIR / "hashnode").string();
+			cLog(lsFATAL) << "Unable to open/create hash node db: "
+				<< (theConfig.DATA_DIR / "hashnode").string()
+				<< " " << status.ToString();
 			StopSustain();
 			exit(3);
 		}