diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-mdb/init.c b/servers/slapd/back-mdb/init.c
index d59b207bc652fe64812189b6b80a2d0335f977a7..42378074ccaccfab04f6d5546dcf87eb392fe316 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-mdb/init.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-mdb/init.c
@@ -176,18 +176,18 @@ mdb_db_open( BackendDB *be, ConfigReply *cr )
 
 	if ( rc ) {
 		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
-			LDAP_XSTRING(mdb_db_open) ": database \"%s\" cannot be opened, err %d. "
+			LDAP_XSTRING(mdb_db_open) ": database \"%s\" cannot be opened: %s (%d). "
 			"Restore from backup!\n",
-			be->be_suffix[0].bv_val, rc, 0 );
+			be->be_suffix[0].bv_val, mdb_strerror(rc), rc );
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
 	rc = mdb_txn_begin( mdb->mi_dbenv, NULL, flags & MDB_RDONLY, &txn );
 	if ( rc ) {
 		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
-			LDAP_XSTRING(mdb_db_open) ": database \"%s\" cannot be opened, err %d. "
+			LDAP_XSTRING(mdb_db_open) ": database \"%s\" cannot be opened: %s (%d). "
 			"Restore from backup!\n",
-			be->be_suffix[0].bv_val, rc, 0 );
+			be->be_suffix[0].bv_val, mdb_strerror(rc), rc );
 		goto fail;
 	}