diff --git a/src/hash.rs b/src/hash.rs
index 891c683..52241c9 100644
--- a/src/hash.rs
+++ b/src/hash.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,10 @@ pub fn decode<T: AsRef<str>>(string: T) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
 
     // multibase base58
     if base != "z" {
-        Err(anyhow!("data not base58 encoded, bailing"))
+        Err(anyhow!(format!(
+            "data not base58 encoded, bailing... ({})",
+            string
+        )))
     } else {
         Ok(bs58::decode(data).into_vec()?)
     }