diff --git a/wrapper.c b/wrapper.c
index afb4f6f77..fd8ead33e 100644
--- a/wrapper.c
+++ b/wrapper.c
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ void *xmalloc(size_t size)
 		if (!ret && !size)
 			ret = malloc(1);
 		if (!ret)
-			die("Out of memory, malloc failed");
+			die("Out of memory, malloc failed (tried to allocate %lu bytes)",
+			    (unsigned long)size);
 	}
 #ifdef XMALLOC_POISON
 	memset(ret, 0xA5, size);