diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/ExitUtil.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/ExitUtil.java
index 837e4f3c9d..8adcb13ac4 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/ExitUtil.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/ExitUtil.java
@@ -84,10 +84,20 @@ public static void terminate(int status, String msg) throws ExitException {
     System.exit(status);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Like {@link terminate(int, String)} but takes an exception to
+   * @param status
+   * @param t Exception
+   * @throws ExitException if System.exit is disabled for test purposes
+   */
+  public static void terminate(int status, Throwable t) throws ExitException {
+    terminate(status, t.getMessage());
+  }
+
   /**
    * Like {@link terminate(int, String)} without a message.
    * @param status
-   * @throws ExitException
+   * @throws ExitException if System.exit is disabled for test purposes
    */
   public static void terminate(int status) throws ExitException {
     terminate(status, "ExitException");
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 84f30a417f..c33bcd5ac2 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -341,6 +341,8 @@ Branch-2 ( Unreleased changes )
 
     HDFS-3665. Add a test for renaming across file systems via a symlink. (eli)
 
+    HDFS-3666. Plumb more exception messages to terminate. (eli)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-2982. Startup performance suffers when there are many edit log
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/BlockManager.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/BlockManager.java
index 32a7c3bc13..04504f2ae8 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/BlockManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/BlockManager.java
@@ -2967,7 +2967,7 @@ public void run() {
           break;
         } catch (Throwable t) {
           LOG.fatal("ReplicationMonitor thread received Runtime exception. ", t);
-          terminate(1);
+          terminate(1, t);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
index b9341a807d..0f86304ccc 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/datanode/DataNode.java
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ public static void secureMain(String args[], SecureResources resources) {
         datanode.join();
     } catch (Throwable e) {
       LOG.fatal("Exception in secureMain", e);
-      terminate(1);
+      terminate(1, e);
     } finally {
       // We need to terminate the process here because either shutdown was called
       // or some disk related conditions like volumes tolerated or volumes required
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLog.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLog.java
index e68689b4dd..6a549f788b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLog.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/FSEditLog.java
@@ -545,8 +545,9 @@ public void logSync() {
             editLogStream.setReadyToFlush();
           } catch (IOException e) {
             final String msg =
-                "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage. "
-                + "Unsynced transactions: " + (txid - synctxid);
+                "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage " +
+                "due to " + e.getMessage() + ". " +
+                "Unsynced transactions: " + (txid - synctxid);
             LOG.fatal(msg, new Exception());
             terminate(1, msg);
           }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
index 2d5a90a8ad..7258a3adc1 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ public static void main(String argv[]) throws Exception {
         namenode.join();
     } catch (Throwable e) {
       LOG.fatal("Exception in namenode join", e);
-      terminate(1);
+      terminate(1, e);
     }
   }
 
@@ -1283,7 +1283,7 @@ private synchronized void doImmediateShutdown(Throwable t)
     } catch (Throwable ignored) {
       // This is unlikely to happen, but there's nothing we can do if it does.
     }
-    terminate(1, t.getMessage());
+    terminate(1, t);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/SecondaryNameNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/SecondaryNameNode.java
index 044f9254eb..c32bd3383b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/SecondaryNameNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/SecondaryNameNode.java
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ public void doWork() {
       } catch (Throwable e) {
         LOG.fatal("Throwable Exception in doCheckpoint", e);
         e.printStackTrace();
-        terminate(1);
+        terminate(1, e);
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/EditLogTailer.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/EditLogTailer.java
index 3e811dfba8..e2e65d4144 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/EditLogTailer.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/ha/EditLogTailer.java
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ private void doWork() {
         } catch (Throwable t) {
           LOG.fatal("Unknown error encountered while tailing edits. " +
               "Shutting down standby NN.", t);
-          terminate(1, t.getMessage());
+          terminate(1, t);
         }
 
         try {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestEditLogJournalFailures.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestEditLogJournalFailures.java
index bc5cc7e459..879d2922c8 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestEditLogJournalFailures.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/TestEditLogJournalFailures.java
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ public void testAllEditsDirFailOnWrite() throws IOException {
     } catch (RemoteException re) {
       assertTrue(re.getClassName().contains("ExitException"));
       GenericTestUtils.assertExceptionContains(
-          "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage. " +
+          "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage due to " +
+          "No journals available to flush. " +
           "Unsynced transactions: 1", re);
     }
   }
@@ -227,7 +228,8 @@ public void testMultipleRedundantFailedEditsDirOnSetReadyToFlush()
     } catch (RemoteException re) {
       assertTrue(re.getClassName().contains("ExitException"));
       GenericTestUtils.assertExceptionContains(
-          "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage. " +
+          "Could not sync enough journals to persistent storage due to " +
+          "setReadyToFlush failed for too many journals. " +
           "Unsynced transactions: 1", re);
     }
   }