diff --git a/pressure-vessel/adverb.c b/pressure-vessel/adverb.c
index d255b587a116331c117344c9b0666427f4bab389..ac73b67d92b917b48182a9a3f7e45050f7575547 100644
--- a/pressure-vessel/adverb.c
+++ b/pressure-vessel/adverb.c
@@ -638,6 +638,7 @@ regenerate_ld_so_cache (const GPtrArray *ld_so_cache_paths,
                         const char *dir,
                         GError **error)
 {
+  g_autoptr(GError) local_error = NULL;
   g_autoptr(GPtrArray) argv = g_ptr_array_new ();
   g_autoptr(GString) conf = g_string_new ("");
   g_autofree gchar *child_stdout = NULL;
@@ -723,15 +724,34 @@ regenerate_ld_so_cache (const GPtrArray *ld_so_cache_paths,
                         error))
     return glnx_prefix_error (error, "Cannot run /sbin/ldconfig");
 
+  if (!g_spawn_check_exit_status (wait_status, &local_error))
+    {
+      if (child_stderr != NULL && child_stderr[0] != '\0')
+        {
+          g_set_error (error, local_error->domain, local_error->code,
+                       ("Unable to generate %s: %s.\n"
+                        "Diagnostic output:\n%s"),
+                       new_path,
+                       local_error->message,
+                       child_stderr);
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          g_set_error (error, local_error->domain, local_error->code,
+                       "Unable to generate %s: %s",
+                       new_path,
+                       local_error->message);
+        }
+
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+
   if (child_stdout != NULL && child_stdout[0] != '\0')
     g_debug ("Output:\n%s", child_stdout);
 
   if (child_stderr != NULL && child_stderr[0] != '\0')
     g_debug ("Diagnostic output:\n%s", child_stderr);
 
-  if (!g_spawn_check_exit_status (wait_status, error))
-    return glnx_prefix_error (error, "Unable to generate %s", new_path);
-
   /* Atomically replace ld.so.cache with new-ld.so.cache. */
   if (!glnx_renameat (AT_FDCWD, new_path, AT_FDCWD, replace_path, error))
     return glnx_prefix_error (error, "Cannot move %s to %s",