diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 248a21ab94..86a5eb2571 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2144,7 +2144,8 @@ int git_config_set_multivar_in_file(const char *config_filename,
 	}
 
 	if (commit_lock_file(lock) < 0) {
-		error("could not commit config file %s", config_filename);
+		error("could not write config file %s: %s", config_filename,
+		      strerror(errno));
 		ret = CONFIG_NO_WRITE;
 		lock = NULL;
 		goto out_free;
@@ -2330,7 +2331,8 @@ int git_config_rename_section_in_file(const char *config_filename,
 	fclose(config_file);
 unlock_and_out:
 	if (commit_lock_file(lock) < 0)
-		ret = error("could not commit config file %s", config_filename);
+		ret = error("could not write config file %s: %s",
+			    config_filename, strerror(errno));
 out:
 	free(filename_buf);
 	return ret;
diff --git a/credential-store.c b/credential-store.c
index 00aea3aa30..fc67d16c10 100644
--- a/credential-store.c
+++ b/credential-store.c
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ static void rewrite_credential_file(const char *fn, struct credential *c,
 		print_line(extra);
 	parse_credential_file(fn, c, NULL, print_line);
 	if (commit_lock_file(&credential_lock) < 0)
-		die_errno("unable to commit credential store");
+		die_errno("unable to write credential store: %s",
+			  strerror(errno));
 }
 
 static void store_credential_file(const char *fn, struct credential *c)
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index e3b421d514..3c65edb5c4 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -1824,7 +1824,7 @@ static void dump_marks(void)
 
 	dump_marks_helper(f, 0, marks);
 	if (commit_lock_file(&mark_lock)) {
-		failure |= error("Unable to commit marks file %s: %s",
+		failure |= error("Unable to write file %s: %s",
 			export_marks_file, strerror(errno));
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 4db3e36f89..c648b5e853 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -3494,7 +3494,7 @@ int reflog_expire(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 					get_lock_file_path(lock->lk));
 			rollback_lock_file(&reflog_lock);
 		} else if (commit_lock_file(&reflog_lock)) {
-			status |= error("unable to commit reflog '%s' (%s)",
+			status |= error("unable to write reflog '%s' (%s)",
 					log_file, strerror(errno));
 		} else if (update && commit_ref(lock)) {
 			status |= error("couldn't set %s", lock->ref_name);