diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 8700270b6b9..a7bd409cb02 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ Release 2.7.0 - UNRELEASED
     HADOOP-11291. Log the cause of SASL connection failures.
     (Stephen Chu via cnauroth)
 
+    HADOOP-11173. Improve error messages for some KeyShell commands. (wang)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HADOOP-11323. WritableComparator#compare keeps reference to byte array.
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/crypto/key/KeyShell.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/crypto/key/KeyShell.java
index 3875125576e..0aa3c855e97 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/crypto/key/KeyShell.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/crypto/key/KeyShell.java
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ public class KeyShell extends Configured implements Tool {
         }
       } catch (IOException e) {
         out.println("Cannot list keys for KeyProvider: " + provider
-            + ": " + e.getMessage());
+            + ": " + e.toString());
         throw e;
       }
     }
@@ -350,12 +350,12 @@ public class KeyShell extends Configured implements Tool {
           printProviderWritten();
         } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
           out.println("Cannot roll key: " + keyName + " within KeyProvider: "
-              + provider);
+              + provider + ". " + e.toString());
           throw e;
         }
       } catch (IOException e1) {
         out.println("Cannot roll key: " + keyName + " within KeyProvider: "
-            + provider);
+            + provider + ". " + e1.toString());
         throw e1;
       }
     }
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ public class KeyShell extends Configured implements Tool {
           out.println(keyName + " has been successfully deleted.");
           printProviderWritten();
         } catch (IOException e) {
-          out.println(keyName + " has not been deleted.");
+          out.println(keyName + " has not been deleted. " + e.toString());
           throw e;
         }
       }
@@ -484,13 +484,13 @@ public class KeyShell extends Configured implements Tool {
             + options.toString() + ".");
         printProviderWritten();
       } catch (InvalidParameterException e) {
-        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.getMessage());
+        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.toString());
         throw e;
       } catch (IOException e) {
-        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.getMessage());
+        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.toString());
         throw e;
       } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) {
-        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.getMessage());
+        out.println(keyName + " has not been created. " + e.toString());
         throw e;
       }
     }