diff --git a/mlir/lib/IR/StandardTypes.cpp b/mlir/lib/IR/StandardTypes.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/IR/StandardTypes.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/IR/StandardTypes.cpp
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@
 static LogicalResult checkTensorElementType(Location location,
                                             Type elementType) {
   if (!TensorType::isValidElementType(elementType))
-    return emitError(location, "invalid tensor element type");
+    return emitError(location, "invalid tensor element type: ") << elementType;
   return success();
 }