diff --git a/run-command.c b/run-command.c
index d679cc2..e2bc18a 100644
--- a/run-command.c
+++ b/run-command.c
@@ -728,6 +728,8 @@
 	if (prepare_cmd(&argv, cmd) < 0) {
 		failed_errno = errno;
 		cmd->pid = -1;
+		if (!cmd->silent_exec_failure)
+			error_errno("cannot run %s", cmd->argv[0]);
 		goto end_of_spawn;
 	}
 
diff --git a/t/t0061-run-command.sh b/t/t0061-run-command.sh
index b9cfc03..8a48487 100755
--- a/t/t0061-run-command.sh
+++ b/t/t0061-run-command.sh
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@
 >empty
 
 test_expect_success 'start_command reports ENOENT (slash)' '
-	test-tool run-command start-command-ENOENT ./does-not-exist
+	test-tool run-command start-command-ENOENT ./does-not-exist 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "\./does-not-exist" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'start_command reports ENOENT (no slash)' '
-	test-tool run-command start-command-ENOENT does-not-exist
+	test-tool run-command start-command-ENOENT does-not-exist 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "does-not-exist" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'run_command can run a command' '
@@ -34,7 +36,8 @@
 	write_script should-not-run <<-\EOF &&
 	echo yikes
 	EOF
-	test_must_fail test-tool run-command run-command should-not-run
+	test_must_fail test-tool run-command run-command should-not-run 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "should-not-run" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success !MINGW 'run_command can run a script without a #! line' '