diff --git a/library/database/mysql_db b/library/database/mysql_db
index 6b6639da8ee..40af38108ff 100644
--- a/library/database/mysql_db
+++ b/library/database/mysql_db
@@ -314,7 +314,11 @@ def main():
             db_connection = MySQLdb.connect(host=module.params["login_host"], port=int(module.params["login_port"]), user=login_user, passwd=login_password, db=connect_to_db)
         cursor = db_connection.cursor()
     except Exception, e:
-        module.fail_json(msg="unable to connect, check login_user and login_password are correct, or alternatively check ~/.my.cnf contains credentials")
+        if "Unknown database" in str(e):
+                errno, errstr = e.args
+                module.fail_json(msg="ERROR: %s %s" % (errno, errstr))
+        else:
+                module.fail_json(msg="unable to connect, check login_user and login_password are correct, or alternatively check ~/.my.cnf contains credentials")
 
     changed = False
     if db_exists(cursor, db):