diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtils.java
index 88105420e14..8eaf44048c1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtils.java
@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ public final class ConfigurationUtils {
 
     public static Processor readProcessor(Map<String, Processor.Factory> processorFactories,
                                            String type, Map<String, Object> config) throws Exception {
+        String tag = ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalStringProperty(null, null, config, TAG_KEY);
         Processor.Factory factory = processorFactories.get(type);
         if (factory != null) {
             boolean ignoreFailure = ConfigurationUtils.readBooleanProperty(null, null, config, "ignore_failure", false);
@@ -287,7 +288,6 @@ public final class ConfigurationUtils {
                 ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalList(null, null, config, Pipeline.ON_FAILURE_KEY);
 
             List<Processor> onFailureProcessors = readProcessorConfigs(onFailureProcessorConfigs, processorFactories);
-            String tag = ConfigurationUtils.readOptionalStringProperty(null, null, config, TAG_KEY);
 
             if (onFailureProcessorConfigs != null && onFailureProcessors.isEmpty()) {
                 throw newConfigurationException(type, tag, Pipeline.ON_FAILURE_KEY,
@@ -309,6 +309,6 @@ public final class ConfigurationUtils {
                 throw newConfigurationException(type, tag, null, e);
             }
         }
-        throw new ElasticsearchParseException("No processor type exists with name [" + type + "]");
+        throw newConfigurationException(type, tag, null, "No processor type exists with name [" + type + "]");
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtilsTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtilsTests.java
index f2d9aaa5170..eacc93a96fd 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtilsTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/ingest/ConfigurationUtilsTests.java
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.sameInstance;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 
@@ -105,12 +107,17 @@ public class ConfigurationUtilsTests extends ESTestCase {
         assertThat(result.get(0), sameInstance(processor));
         assertThat(result.get(1), sameInstance(processor));
 
-        config.add(Collections.singletonMap("unknown_processor", emptyConfig));
+        Map<String, Object> unknownTaggedConfig = new HashMap<>();
+        unknownTaggedConfig.put("tag", "my_unknown");
+        config.add(Collections.singletonMap("unknown_processor", unknownTaggedConfig));
         try {
             ConfigurationUtils.readProcessorConfigs(config, registry);
             fail("exception expected");
         } catch (ElasticsearchParseException e) {
             assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("No processor type exists with name [unknown_processor]"));
+            assertThat(e.getHeader("processor_tag"), equalTo(Collections.singletonList("my_unknown")));
+            assertThat(e.getHeader("processor_type"), equalTo(Collections.singletonList("unknown_processor")));
+            assertThat(e.getHeader("property_name"), is(nullValue()));
         }
     }