diff --git a/pathspec.c b/pathspec.c
index 128f27fcb7..166d255642 100644
--- a/pathspec.c
+++ b/pathspec.c
@@ -439,7 +439,8 @@ static void init_pathspec_item(struct pathspec_item *item, unsigned flags,
 		match = prefix_path_gently(prefix, prefixlen,
 					   &prefixlen, copyfrom);
 		if (!match)
-			die(_("%s: '%s' is outside repository"), elt, copyfrom);
+			die(_("%s: '%s' is outside repository at '%s'"), elt,
+			    copyfrom, absolute_path(get_git_work_tree()));
 	}
 
 	item->match = match;
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index e2a479a64f..17814a080b 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@ char *prefix_path(const char *prefix, int len, const char *path)
 {
 	char *r = prefix_path_gently(prefix, len, NULL, path);
 	if (!r)
-		die(_("'%s' is outside repository"), path);
+		die(_("'%s' is outside repository at '%s'"), path,
+		    absolute_path(get_git_work_tree()));
 	return r;
 }