diff --git a/django_migration_linter/migration_linter.py b/django_migration_linter/migration_linter.py
index edc32ff..69158ff 100644
--- a/django_migration_linter/migration_linter.py
+++ b/django_migration_linter/migration_linter.py
@@ -143,7 +143,9 @@ class MigrationLinter(object):
             sql_statements.append(line)
         sqlmigrate_process.wait()
         if sqlmigrate_process.returncode != 0:
-            raise RuntimeError('sqlmigrate command failed')
+            _, err = sqlmigrate_process.communicate()
+            raise RuntimeError('sqlmigrate command failed {0}'.format(
+                err.decode('utf-8')))
         log.info('Found {0} sql migration lines'.format(len(sql_statements)))
         return sql_statements