diff --git a/src/bytes.ts b/src/bytes.ts
index 9149d0e1..ab3c2831 100644
--- a/src/bytes.ts
+++ b/src/bytes.ts
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ export const toBuffer = function(v: any): Buffer {
         v = Buffer.from(ethjsUtil.padToEven(ethjsUtil.stripHexPrefix(v)), 'hex')
       } else {
         throw new Error(
-          'Cannot convert string to buffer. toBuffer only supports 0x-prefixed hex strings.',
+          `Cannot convert string to buffer. toBuffer only supports 0x-prefixed hex strings and this string was given: ${v}`,
         )
       }
     } else if (typeof v === 'number') {
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index b9e5bd94..9a558f19 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -507,9 +507,9 @@ describe('toBuffer', function () {
   })
 
   it('should fail with non 0x-prefixed hex strings', function() {
-    assert.throws(() => ethUtils.toBuffer('11'))
+    assert.throws(() => ethUtils.toBuffer('11'), '11')
     assert.throws(() => ethUtils.toBuffer(''))
-    assert.throws(() => ethUtils.toBuffer('0xR'))
+    assert.throws(() => ethUtils.toBuffer('0xR'), '0xR')
   })
 })