diff --git a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/NIOServerCnxn.java b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/NIOServerCnxn.java
index 2e65da84044..02cde23a917 100644
--- a/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/NIOServerCnxn.java
+++ b/zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/server/NIOServerCnxn.java
@@ -545,7 +545,10 @@ private boolean readLength(SelectionKey k) throws IOException {
             return false;
         }
         if (len < 0 || len > BinaryInputArchive.maxBuffer) {
-            throw new IOException("Len error " + len);
+            throw new IOException("Len error. "
+                    + "A message from " +  this.getRemoteSocketAddress() + " with advertised length of " + len
+                    + " is either a malformed message or too large to process"
+                    + " (length is greater than jute.maxbuffer=" + BinaryInputArchive.maxBuffer + ")");
         }
         if (!isZKServerRunning()) {
             throw new IOException("ZooKeeperServer not running");