diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
index 1560bf0f7a06b4..049d1b172117d8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
@@ -1304,7 +1304,8 @@ private void createActionFsOutputDirectories(
           action.getOutputs(), artifactPathResolver);
     } catch (CreateOutputDirectoryException e) {
       throw toActionExecutionException(
-          String.format("failed to create output directory '%s'", e.directoryPath),
+          String.format(
+              "failed to create output directory '%s': %s", e.directoryPath, e.getMessage()),
           e,
           action,
           null,
@@ -1346,7 +1347,7 @@ private static void setupActionFsFileOutErr(FileOutErr fileOutErr, Action action
     } catch (IOException e) {
       String message =
           String.format(
-              "failed to create output directory for output streams'%s': %s",
+              "failed to create output directory for output streams '%s': %s",
               fileOutErr.getErrorPath(), e.getMessage());
       DetailedExitCode code =
           createDetailedExitCode(message, Code.ACTION_FS_OUT_ERR_DIRECTORY_CREATION_FAILURE);