diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/service/internal/AbstractServiceRegistryImpl.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/service/internal/AbstractServiceRegistryImpl.java
index 0db8177a26..78325c17c3 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/service/internal/AbstractServiceRegistryImpl.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/service/internal/AbstractServiceRegistryImpl.java
@@ -264,7 +264,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractServiceRegistryImpl
 			throw e;
 		}
 		catch ( Exception e ) {
-			throw new ServiceException( "Unable to create requested service [" + serviceBinding.getServiceRole().getName() + "]", e );
+			throw new ServiceException( "Unable to create requested service ["
+					+ serviceBinding.getServiceRole().getName() + "] due to: " + e.getMessage(), e );
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/hibernate-jcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/jcache/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java b/hibernate-jcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/jcache/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
index df3673de32..5274a48316 100644
--- a/hibernate-jcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/jcache/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-jcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/jcache/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ import org.hibernate.testing.logger.Triggerable;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers;
-
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.notNullValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.nullValue;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.startsWith;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hibernate.testing.junit4.ExtraAssertions.assertTyping;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ public class MissingCacheStrategyTest extends BaseUnitTestCase {
 		}
 		catch (ServiceException expected) {
 			assertTyping( CacheException.class, expected.getCause() );
-			assertThat( expected.getMessage(), CoreMatchers.equalTo( "Unable to create requested service [" + org.hibernate.cache.spi.CacheImplementor.class.getName() + "]" ) );
-			assertThat( expected.getCause().getMessage(), CoreMatchers.startsWith( "On-the-fly creation of JCache Cache objects is not supported" ) );
+			assertThat( expected.getMessage(), startsWith( "Unable to create requested service [" + org.hibernate.cache.spi.CacheImplementor.class.getName() + "]" ) );
+			assertThat( expected.getCause().getMessage(), startsWith( "On-the-fly creation of JCache Cache objects is not supported" ) );
 		}
 		catch (CacheException expected) {
-			assertThat( expected.getMessage(), CoreMatchers.equalTo( "On-the-fly creation of JCache Cache objects is not supported" ) );
+			assertThat( expected.getMessage(), equalTo( "On-the-fly creation of JCache Cache objects is not supported" ) );
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/hibernate-testing/src/main/java/org/hibernate/testing/orm/junit/DialectContext.java b/hibernate-testing/src/main/java/org/hibernate/testing/orm/junit/DialectContext.java
index 997550274c..7a194cf404 100644
--- a/hibernate-testing/src/main/java/org/hibernate/testing/orm/junit/DialectContext.java
+++ b/hibernate-testing/src/main/java/org/hibernate/testing/orm/junit/DialectContext.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ package org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit;
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
 import java.sql.Connection;
 import java.sql.Driver;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.hibernate.HibernateException;
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ import org.hibernate.cfg.Environment;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.Dialect;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.dialect.spi.DatabaseMetaDataDialectResolutionInfoAdapter;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.dialect.spi.DialectResolutionInfo;
+import org.hibernate.exception.JDBCConnectionException;
 import org.hibernate.internal.util.ReflectHelper;
 
 /**
@@ -27,20 +29,20 @@ public final class DialectContext {
 
 	static void init() {
 		final Properties properties = Environment.getProperties();
+		final String diverClassName = properties.getProperty( Environment.DRIVER );
 		final String dialectName = properties.getProperty( Environment.DIALECT );
+		final String jdbcUrl = properties.getProperty( Environment.URL );
+		final Properties props = new Properties();
+		props.setProperty( "user", properties.getProperty( Environment.USER ) );
+		props.setProperty( "password", properties.getProperty( Environment.PASS ) );
 		if ( dialectName == null ) {
 			throw new HibernateException( "The dialect was not set. Set the property hibernate.dialect." );
 		}
+		final Constructor<? extends Dialect> constructor;
 		try {
+			@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 			final Class<? extends Dialect> dialectClass = ReflectHelper.classForName( dialectName );
-			final Constructor<? extends Dialect> constructor = dialectClass.getConstructor( DialectResolutionInfo.class );
-			Driver driver = (Driver) Class.forName( properties.getProperty( Environment.DRIVER ) ).newInstance();
-			Properties props = new Properties();
-			props.setProperty( "user", properties.getProperty( Environment.USER ) );
-			props.setProperty( "password", properties.getProperty( Environment.PASS ) );
-			try (Connection connection = driver.connect( properties.getProperty( Environment.URL ), props )) {
-				dialect = constructor.newInstance( new DatabaseMetaDataDialectResolutionInfoAdapter( connection.getMetaData() ) );
-			}
+			constructor = dialectClass.getConstructor( DialectResolutionInfo.class );
 		}
 		catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
 			throw new HibernateException( "Dialect class not found: " + dialectName, cnfe );
@@ -48,6 +50,26 @@ public final class DialectContext {
 		catch (Exception e) {
 			throw new HibernateException( "Could not instantiate given dialect class: " + dialectName, e );
 		}
+		final Driver driver;
+		try {
+			driver = (Driver) Class.forName( diverClassName ).newInstance();
+		}
+		catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
+			throw new HibernateException( "JDBC Driver class not found: " + dialectName, cnfe );
+		}
+		catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new HibernateException( "Could not instantiate given JDBC driver class: " + dialectName, e );
+		}
+		try ( Connection connection = driver.connect( jdbcUrl, props ) ) {
+			dialect = constructor.newInstance( new DatabaseMetaDataDialectResolutionInfoAdapter( connection.getMetaData() ) );
+		}
+		catch (SQLException sqle) {
+			throw new JDBCConnectionException( "Could not connect to database with JDBC URL: '"
+					+ jdbcUrl + "' [" + sqle.getMessage() + "]", sqle );
+		}
+		catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new HibernateException( "Could not instantiate given dialect class: " + dialectName, e );
+		}
 	}
 
 	private DialectContext() {