diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index e2e44177..42c572ea 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ pic_load_stdlib(pic_state *pic)
 
   proc = pic_codegen(pic, v);
   if (proc == NULL) {
+    fputs(pic->errmsg, stderr);
     fputs("fatal error: built-in.scm compilation failure", stderr);
     abort();
   }
diff --git a/tools/main.c b/tools/main.c
index 1828103f..1d329730 100644
--- a/tools/main.c
+++ b/tools/main.c
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ exec_file(pic_state *pic, const char *fname)
 
   proc = pic_codegen(pic, v);
   if (proc == NULL) {
+    fputs(pic->errmsg, stderr);
     fprintf(stderr, "fatal error: %s compilation failure\n", fname);
     return 1;
   }