diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/JGitText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/JGitText.properties
index fc77abf88..403d5fce7 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/JGitText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/JGitText.properties
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ cannotResolveLocalTrackingRefForUpdating=Cannot resolve local tracking ref {0} f
 cannotStoreObjects=cannot store objects
 cannotUnloadAModifiedTree=Cannot unload a modified tree.
 cannotWorkWithOtherStagesThanZeroRightNow=Cannot work with other stages than zero right now. Won't write corrupt index.
-canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent=Can only cherry-pick commits which have exactly one parent
+canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent=Cannot cherry-pick commit ''{0}'' because it has {1} parents, only commits with exactly one parent are supported.
 canOnlyRevertCommitsWithOneParent=Can only revert commits which have exactly one parent
 cantFindObjectInReversePackIndexForTheSpecifiedOffset=Can't find object in (reverse) pack index for the specified offset {0}
 cantPassMeATree=Can't pass me a tree!
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CherryPickCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CherryPickCommand.java
index d3e81e7bc..3fac637f3 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CherryPickCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/CherryPickCommand.java
@@ -122,10 +122,13 @@ public CherryPickResult call() throws GitAPIException {
 				RevCommit srcCommit = revWalk.parseCommit(srcObjectId);
 
 				// get the parent of the commit to cherry-pick
-				if (srcCommit.getParentCount() != 1) {
+				if (srcCommit.getParentCount() != 1)
 					throw new MultipleParentsNotAllowedException(
-							JGitText.get().canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent);
-				}
+							MessageFormat.format(
+									JGitText.get().canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent,
+									srcCommit.name(),
+									Integer.valueOf(srcCommit.getParentCount())));
+
 				RevCommit srcParent = srcCommit.getParent(0);
 				revWalk.parseHeaders(srcParent);
 
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
index 1503857ca..35cccc6e5 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/api/RebaseCommand.java
@@ -554,7 +554,10 @@ else if (walk.isMergedInto(headCommit, upstream)) {
 		for (RevCommit commit : commitsToUse) {
 			if (commit.getParentCount() != 1)
 				throw new JGitInternalException(
-						JGitText.get().canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent);
+						MessageFormat.format(
+								JGitText.get().canOnlyCherryPickCommitsWithOneParent,
+								commit.name(),
+								Integer.valueOf(commit.getParentCount())));
 			cherryPickList.add(commit);
 		}