diff --git a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrl.java b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrl.java
index 3204f695e..6fe54dfb5 100644
--- a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrl.java
+++ b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrl.java
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ private static URL parseURL(String encodedUrl) {
     try {
       return new URL(encodedUrl);
     } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException(e);
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Malformed URL: \"" + encodedUrl + "\"", e);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrlTest.java b/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrlTest.java
index dbe1cc931..8910f3a00 100644
--- a/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrlTest.java
+++ b/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/http/GenericUrlTest.java
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 
 package com.google.api.client.http;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+
 import com.google.api.client.util.Key;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -98,6 +101,15 @@ public void testParse_noPath() {
     assertNull(url.getPathParts());
   }
 
+  public void testParse_malformedUrl() {
+    try {
+      new GenericUrl("http://example.com:8080http://example.com:8080/");
+      fail("expected " + IllegalArgumentException.class);
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("Malformed URL: \"http://example.com:8080http://example.com:8080/\""));
+    }
+  }
+
   private static final String SHORT_PATH = "http://bar/path?a=b";
 
   private static final List<String> SHORT_PATH_PARTS = Arrays.asList("", "path");