diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactory.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactory.java
index 0f82e38245..96d9d1f750 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactory.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactory.java
@@ -402,7 +402,8 @@ public class TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactory extends
 		}
 		catch (IOException ex) {
 			throw new EmbeddedServletContainerException(
-					"Unable to create Tomcat tempdir", ex);
+					"Unable to create Tomcat tempdir. java.io.tmpdir is set to "
+							+ System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir"), ex);
 		}
 	}