diff --git a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/oci.go b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/oci.go
index 4ea371e4b2..73f70f88b7 100644
--- a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/oci.go
+++ b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/oci.go
@@ -15,11 +15,12 @@ func ociRepositorySplit(image string) (string, string, error) {
 	var registry, path string
 	imageURL, err := url.Parse(image)
 	if err != nil {
-		return registry, path, fmt.Errorf("invalid image URL: %v", err)
+		return registry, path, fmt.Errorf("invalid image URL: %s, %v", image, err)
 	}
 
 	if imageURL.Scheme != "docker" && imageURL.Scheme != "oci" {
-		return registry, path, fmt.Errorf("unknown OCI registry scheme %s", imageURL.Scheme)
+		return registry, path, fmt.Errorf("unknown OCI registry scheme %s, original URL: %s", imageURL.Scheme,
+			image)
 	}
 
 	// remove any leading slash on the path, as that can mess things up
diff --git a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/resolveconfig.go b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/resolveconfig.go
index c6abfdafef..dece771f6f 100644
--- a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/resolveconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/resolveconfig.go
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ func resolveTagsToHash(ctx *downloaderContext, rc types.ResolveConfig,
 		// get the name of the repository and the URL for the registry
 		serverURL, remoteName, err = ociRepositorySplit(dsCtx.DownloadURL)
 		if err != nil {
-			errStr = fmt.Sprintf("invalid OCI registry URL: %s", serverURL)
+			errStr = fmt.Sprintf("invalid OCI registry URL: %s", err.Error())
 		}
 
 	default:
diff --git a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/syncop.go b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/syncop.go
index 769ad5c2a8..eacd84054d 100644
--- a/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/syncop.go
+++ b/pkg/pillar/cmd/downloader/syncop.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func handleSyncOp(ctx *downloaderContext, key string,
 		// get the name of the repository and the URL for the registry
 		serverURL, remoteName, err = ociRepositorySplit(dsCtx.DownloadURL)
 		if err != nil {
-			errStr = fmt.Sprintf("invalid OCI registry URL: %s", serverURL)
+			errStr = fmt.Sprintf("invalid OCI registry URL: %s", err.Error())
 		}
 	case zconfig.DsType_DsS3.String():
 		auth = &zedUpload.AuthInput{