diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
index 613a15187a6d47..d81adfd419c5de 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public ActionExecutionException(
       ActionAnalysisMetadata action,
       boolean catastrophe,
       DetailedExitCode detailedExitCode) {
-    super(message, cause);
+    super(combineMessages(message, cause), cause);
     this.action = action;
     this.catastrophe = catastrophe;
     this.detailedExitCode = checkNotNull(detailedExitCode);
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public ActionExecutionException(
       NestedSet<Cause> rootCauses,
       boolean catastrophe,
       DetailedExitCode detailedExitCode) {
-    super(message, cause);
+    super(combineMessages(message, cause), cause);
     this.action = action;
     this.rootCauses = rootCauses;
     this.catastrophe = catastrophe;
@@ -203,4 +203,12 @@ public DetailedExitCode getDetailedExitCode() {
   public boolean showError() {
     return getMessage() != null;
   }
+
+  @Nullable
+  private static String combineMessages(String message, @Nullable Throwable cause) {
+    if (cause == null || cause.getMessage() == null) {
+      return message;
+    }
+    return message + ": " + cause.getMessage();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..8fc50ff9e2f20b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.util.ActionsTestUtil;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.util.TestAction.DummyAction;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.server.FailureDetails.Execution;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.server.FailureDetails.FailureDetail;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.util.DetailedExitCode;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
+
+/** {@link ActionExecutionException}Test */
+@RunWith(JUnit4.class)
+public final class ActionExecutionExceptionTest {
+
+  @Test
+  public void containsCauseMessage() {
+    Exception e =
+        new ActionExecutionException(
+            "message",
+            new Exception("cause"),
+            new DummyAction(ActionsTestUtil.DUMMY_ARTIFACT, ActionsTestUtil.DUMMY_ARTIFACT),
+            false,
+            DetailedExitCode.of(
+                FailureDetail.newBuilder().setExecution(Execution.getDefaultInstance()).build()));
+    assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().contains("message");
+    assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().contains("cause");
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
index 0cabee71ee39ea..ac8d1b48587ef4 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ java_library(
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/testutils",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/testutils:depsutils",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util",
+        "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:detailed_exit_code",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:filetype",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:string",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/vfs",