diff --git a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/fastq/FastqReader.java b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/fastq/FastqReader.java
index d5d8f1889..76ead119d 100755
--- a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/fastq/FastqReader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/fastq/FastqReader.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ private FastqRecord readNextRecord() {
             return frec ;
 
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new SAMException(String.format("Error reading fastq '%s'", getAbsolutePath()), e);
+            throw new SAMException(error(e.getMessage()), e);
         }
     }
 
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public void close() {
         try {
             reader.close();
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new SAMException("IO problem in fastq file " + getAbsolutePath(), e);
+            throw new SAMException(error(e.getMessage()), e);
         }
     }