diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index d2c85d3b..0b9ebe61 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 Current release
 ---------------
 
+What's new in psycopg 2.6.2
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+- Report the server response status on errors (such as :ticket:`#281`).
+
+
 What's new in psycopg 2.6.1
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/psycopg/pqpath.c b/psycopg/pqpath.c
index 5e1974be..5a128382 100644
--- a/psycopg/pqpath.c
+++ b/psycopg/pqpath.c
@@ -190,8 +190,10 @@ pq_raise(connectionObject *conn, cursorObject *curs, PGresult **pgres)
        raise and a meaningful message is better than an empty one.
        Note: it can happen without it being our error: see ticket #82 */
     if (err == NULL || err[0] == '\0') {
-        PyErr_SetString(DatabaseError,
-            "error with no message from the libpq");
+        PyErr_Format(DatabaseError,
+            "error with status %s and no message from the libpq",
+            PQresStatus(pgres == NULL ?
+                PQstatus(conn->pgconn) : PQresultStatus(*pgres)));
         return;
     }