diff --git a/base/base.jl b/base/base.jl
index 909bb062b6a13..0eec65edca597 100644
--- a/base/base.jl
+++ b/base/base.jl
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ end
 type SystemError <: Exception
     prefix::AbstractString
     errnum::Int32
-    SystemError(p::AbstractString, e::Integer) = new(p, e)
+    extrainfo
+    SystemError(p::AbstractString, e::Integer, extrainfo) = new(p, e, extrainfo)
+    SystemError(p::AbstractString, e::Integer) = new(p, e, nothing)
     SystemError(p::AbstractString) = new(p, Libc.errno())
 end
 
diff --git a/base/error.jl b/base/error.jl
index 4e27de0805c0f..671104d7d3f61 100644
--- a/base/error.jl
+++ b/base/error.jl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ kwerr(kw) = error("unrecognized keyword argument \"", kw, "\"")
 
 ## system error handling ##
 
-systemerror(p, b::Bool) = b ? throw(Main.Base.SystemError(string(p))) : nothing
+systemerror(p, b::Bool; extrainfo=nothing) = b ? throw(Main.Base.SystemError(string(p), Libc.errno(), extrainfo)) : nothing
 
 ## assertion functions and macros ##
 
diff --git a/base/file.jl b/base/file.jl
index afd1ed3652c91..312d511cff60a 100644
--- a/base/file.jl
+++ b/base/file.jl
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ cd(f::Function) = cd(f, homedir())
 function mkdir(path::AbstractString, mode::Unsigned=0o777)
     @unix_only ret = ccall(:mkdir, Int32, (Cstring,UInt32), path, mode)
     @windows_only ret = ccall(:_wmkdir, Int32, (Cwstring,), path)
-    systemerror(:mkdir, ret != 0)
+    systemerror(:mkdir, ret != 0; extrainfo=path)
 end
 
 function mkpath(path::AbstractString, mode::Unsigned=0o777)
diff --git a/base/replutil.jl b/base/replutil.jl
index 49981475324c6..5d3bad42c0184 100644
--- a/base/replutil.jl
+++ b/base/replutil.jl
@@ -136,7 +136,13 @@ function showerror(io::IO, ex::DomainError, bt; backtrace=true)
     nothing
 end
 
-showerror(io::IO, ex::SystemError) = print(io, "SystemError: $(ex.prefix): $(Libc.strerror(ex.errnum))")
+function showerror(io::IO, ex::SystemError)
+    if ex.extrainfo == nothing
+        print(io, "SystemError: $(ex.prefix): $(Libc.strerror(ex.errnum))")
+    else
+        print(io, "SystemError (with $(ex.extrainfo)): $(ex.prefix): $(Libc.strerror(ex.errnum))")
+    end
+end
 showerror(io::IO, ::DivideError) = print(io, "DivideError: integer division error")
 showerror(io::IO, ::StackOverflowError) = print(io, "StackOverflowError:")
 showerror(io::IO, ::UndefRefError) = print(io, "UndefRefError: access to undefined reference")
diff --git a/test/file.jl b/test/file.jl
index 77e780a6314d8..ee7fb3295cc3b 100644
--- a/test/file.jl
+++ b/test/file.jl
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@ subdir = joinpath(dir, "adir")
 mkdir(subdir)
 subdir2 = joinpath(dir, "adir2")
 mkdir(subdir2)
+@test_throws SystemError mkdir(file)
+let err = nothing
+    try
+        mkdir(file)
+    catch err
+        io = IOBuffer()
+        showerror(io, err)
+        @test takebuf_string(io) == "SystemError (with $file): mkdir: File exists"
+    end
+end
 
 if @unix? true : (Base.windows_version() >= Base.WINDOWS_VISTA_VER)
     dirlink = joinpath(dir, "dirlink")