diff --git a/engine-api/src/test/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactoryTest.java b/engine-api/src/test/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactoryTest.java
index 11211aef5..8e4892fc9 100644
--- a/engine-api/src/test/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactoryTest.java
+++ b/engine-api/src/test/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactoryTest.java
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactoryTest {
         NBConfiguration sslCfg = SSLKsFactory.get().getConfigModel().extractConfig(activityDef.getParams());
         assertThatExceptionOfType(RuntimeException.class)
                 .isThrownBy(() -> SSLKsFactory.get().getContext(sslCfg))
-                .withMessageMatching("Unable to load the keystore. Please check.");
+                .withMessageMatching("Unable to load the keystore: .*");
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactoryTest {
         NBConfiguration sslCfg = SSLKsFactory.get().getConfigModel().extractConfig(activityDef.getParams());
         assertThatExceptionOfType(RuntimeException.class)
                 .isThrownBy(() -> SSLKsFactory.get().getContext(sslCfg))
-                .withMessageMatching("Unable to load the truststore. Please check.");
+                .withMessageMatching("Unable to load the truststore: .*");
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/nb-api/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactory.java b/nb-api/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactory.java
index e8c227069..de90ea843 100644
--- a/nb-api/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactory.java
+++ b/nb-api/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/engine/api/util/SSLKsFactory.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                     try {
                         return KeyStore.getInstance(new File(ksPath), keyStorePassword);
                     } catch (Exception e) {
-                        throw new RuntimeException("Unable to load the keystore. Please check.", e);
+                        throw new RuntimeException("Unable to load the keystore: " + e, e);
                     }
                 }).orElse(null);
 
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                                 .map(String::toCharArray)
                                 .orElse(null));
                     } catch (Exception e) {
-                        throw new RuntimeException("Unable to load the truststore. Please check.", e);
+                        throw new RuntimeException("Unable to load the truststore: " + e, e);
                     }
                 }).orElse(null);
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                             return cf.generateCertificate(is);
                         } catch (Exception e) {
                             throw new RuntimeException(
-                                String.format("Unable to load cert from %s. Please check.", certFilePath),
+                                String.format("Unable to load cert from %s: " + e, certFilePath),
                                 e
                             );
                         }
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                             keyStore.setKeyEntry("key", key, keyPassword,
                                 cert != null ? new Certificate[]{cert} : null);
                         } catch (Exception e) {
-                            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Unable to load key from %s. Please check.",
+                            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Unable to load key from %s: " + e,
                                 keyFile),
                                 e);
                         }
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                             ts.setCertificateEntry("caCertFile", caCert);
                             return ts;
                         } catch (Exception e) {
-                            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Unable to load caCert from %s. Please check.",
+                            throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Unable to load caCert from %s: " + e,
                                 caCertFilePath),
                                 e);
                         }
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                 kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
                 kmf.init(keyStore, keyPassword);
             } catch (Exception e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException("Unable to init KeyManagerFactory. Please check password and location.", e);
+                throw new RuntimeException("Unable to init KeyManagerFactory. Please check password and location: " + e, e);
             }
 
             TrustManagerFactory tmf;
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ public class SSLKsFactory implements NBMapConfigurable {
                 tmf = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
                 tmf.init(trustStore != null ? trustStore : keyStore);
             } catch (Exception e) {
-                throw new RuntimeException("Unable to init TrustManagerFactory. Please check.", e);
+                throw new RuntimeException("Unable to init TrustManagerFactory: " + e, e);
             }
 
             try {