diff --git a/irdb-libs/thanos/thanos.cpp b/irdb-libs/thanos/thanos.cpp
index 2df5b9c768e8d7adb0f3841fe9672c378b4c2e0f..9673d87d2b401675ce129983a1df33692fdf0af6 100644
--- a/irdb-libs/thanos/thanos.cpp
+++ b/irdb-libs/thanos/thanos.cpp
@@ -163,8 +163,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 	const int result = ThanosPlugin_t::saveChanges();
 	if(result != 0)
 	{
-		*thanos_log << "A critical step failed: " << (thanos_plugins.back())->getStepName() 
-		     << endl;
+		*real_cerr << "A critical step failed (possibly while writing the IR back to the IRDB):\n\t " << (thanos_plugins.back())->getStepName() << endl;
+		*thanos_log << "A critical step failed: " << (thanos_plugins.back())->getStepName() << endl;
                 *thanos_log << "If DEBUG_STEPS is not on, this failure could "
                      << "be due to an earlier critical step." << endl;
                 return 1; // critical step failed, abort