diff --git a/git-codereview/util_test.go b/git-codereview/util_test.go
index a0ff469..f3d06df 100644
--- a/git-codereview/util_test.go
+++ b/git-codereview/util_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 	"testing"
 )
 
+var gitversion = "unknown git version" // git version for error logs
+
 type gitTest struct {
 	pwd         string // current directory before test
 	tmpdir      string // temporary directory holding repos
@@ -123,6 +125,8 @@
 		}
 	}()
 
+	gitversion = trun(t, tmpdir, "git", "--version")
+
 	server := tmpdir + "/git-origin"
 
 	mkdir(t, server)
@@ -227,6 +231,9 @@
 	cmd.Dir = dir
 	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
+		if cmdline[0] == "git" {
+			t.Fatalf("in %s/, ran %s with %s:\n%v\n%s", filepath.Base(dir), cmdline, gitversion, err, out)
+		}
 		t.Fatalf("in %s/, ran %s: %v\n%s", filepath.Base(dir), cmdline, err, out)
 	}
 	return string(out)