diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/BaseTestRow.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/BaseTestRow.java
index d013beaf21..ca59fa7f73 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/BaseTestRow.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/BaseTestRow.java
@@ -137,7 +137,8 @@ public abstract class BaseTestRow extends TestCase {
             fail("expected exception");
         } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
             // expected during successful test
-            assertTrue(e.getMessage().startsWith("Invalid row number (-1)"));
+            assertTrue("Did not find expected error message, had: " + e, 
+                    e.getMessage().startsWith("Invalid row number -1"));
         }
 
         //Test high row bound