diff --git a/apps/srp.c b/apps/srp.c
index 48b99da2af..a9466f8302 100644
--- a/apps/srp.c
+++ b/apps/srp.c
@@ -379,8 +379,10 @@ int srp_main(int argc, char **argv)
                    srpvfile);
 
     db = load_index(srpvfile, NULL);
-    if (db == NULL)
+    if (db == NULL) {
+        BIO_printf(bio_err, "Problem with index file: %s (could not load/parse file)\n", srpvfile);
         goto end;
+    }
 
     /* Lets check some fields */
     for (i = 0; i < sk_OPENSSL_PSTRING_num(db->db->data); i++) {