diff --git a/lib/Stow.pm.in b/lib/Stow.pm.in
index 101a422..f80b1ac 100755
--- a/lib/Stow.pm.in
+++ b/lib/Stow.pm.in
@@ -1732,8 +1732,8 @@ sub read_a_link {
     }
     elsif (-l $path) {
         debug(4, "  read_a_link($path): real link");
-        return readlink $path
-            or error("Could not read link: $path");
+        my $target = readlink $path or error("Could not read link: $path ($!)");
+        return $target;
     }
     internal_error("read_a_link() passed a non link path: $path\n");
 }