diff --git a/apps/streaming/java/src/net/i2p/client/streaming/impl/PacketQueue.java b/apps/streaming/java/src/net/i2p/client/streaming/impl/PacketQueue.java
index 214e1c2cd8aa872b634aa1f5a50869ded5637109..ea4418a36542319beebf1a6b7621b29315c6dd40 100644
--- a/apps/streaming/java/src/net/i2p/client/streaming/impl/PacketQueue.java
+++ b/apps/streaming/java/src/net/i2p/client/streaming/impl/PacketQueue.java
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class PacketQueue implements SendMessageStatusListener {
                     IOException ioe = new I2PSocketException(status);
                     con.getOutputStream().streamErrorOccurred(ioe);
                     con.getInputStream().streamErrorOccurred(ioe);
-                    con.setConnectionError("failure code " + status);
+                    con.setConnectionError(ioe.getLocalizedMessage());
                     con.disconnect(false);
                 }
                 break;