diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/exceptions.rb b/Library/Homebrew/exceptions.rb
index 38bb9bf6b7..957fc42b90 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/exceptions.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/exceptions.rb
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ class NoSuchKegError < RuntimeError
 end
 
 class FormulaValidationError < StandardError
-  attr_reader :attr
+  attr_reader :attr, :formula
 
-  def initialize(attr, value)
+  def initialize(formula, attr, value)
     @attr = attr
-    super "invalid attribute: #{attr} (#{value.inspect})"
+    @formula = formula
+    super "invalid attribute for formula '#{formula}': #{attr} (#{value.inspect})"
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
index 9377dfe77a..2802132655 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
@@ -182,17 +182,17 @@ class Formula
 
   def validate_attributes!
     if name.nil? || name.empty? || name =~ /\s/
-      raise FormulaValidationError.new(:name, name)
+      raise FormulaValidationError.new(full_name, :name, name)
     end
 
     url = active_spec.url
     if url.nil? || url.empty? || url =~ /\s/
-      raise FormulaValidationError.new(:url, url)
+      raise FormulaValidationError.new(full_name, :url, url)
     end
 
     val = version.respond_to?(:to_str) ? version.to_str : version
     if val.nil? || val.empty? || val =~ /\s/
-      raise FormulaValidationError.new(:version, val)
+      raise FormulaValidationError.new(full_name, :version, val)
     end
   end