diff --git a/git-repack.sh b/git-repack.sh
index 4e16d34971..c0f271d101 100755
--- a/git-repack.sh
+++ b/git-repack.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ esac
 if [ "$local" ]; then
 	pack_objects="$pack_objects --local"
 fi
-name=$(git-rev-list --objects $rev_list $(git-rev-parse $rev_parse) |
+name=$(git-rev-list --objects $rev_list $(git-rev-parse $rev_parse) 2>&1 |
 	git-pack-objects --non-empty $pack_objects .tmp-pack) ||
 	exit 1
 if [ -z "$name" ]; then
diff --git a/pack-objects.c b/pack-objects.c
index 4e941e7392..8864a31cc1 100644
--- a/pack-objects.c
+++ b/pack-objects.c
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		unsigned char sha1[20];
 
 		if (get_sha1_hex(line, sha1))
-			die("expected sha1, got garbage");
+			die("expected sha1, got garbage:\n %s", line);
 		hash = 0;
 		p = line+40;
 		while (*p) {