diff --git a/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/Cache.scala b/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/Cache.scala
index 3e133515e..6226f1d03 100644
--- a/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/Cache.scala
+++ b/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/Cache.scala
@@ -779,7 +779,7 @@ object Cache {
         checksums = checksums,
         logger = logger,
         pool = pool
-      ).leftMap(_.message).map { f =>
+      ).leftMap(_.describe).map { f =>
         // FIXME Catch error here?
         new String(NioFiles.readAllBytes(f.toPath), "UTF-8")
       }
diff --git a/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/FileError.scala b/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/FileError.scala
index 0afd40924..3f1788d61 100644
--- a/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/FileError.scala
+++ b/cache/src/main/scala/coursier/FileError.scala
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import java.io.File
 sealed abstract class FileError(
   val `type`: String,
   val message: String
-) extends Product with Serializable
+) extends Product with Serializable {
+  def describe: String = s"${`type`}: $message"
+}
 
 object FileError {