diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4f615683..1093c840 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 2009-11-25  Federico Di Gregorio  <fog@initd.org>
 
+	* psycopg/microprotocols.c: "can't adapt" message now includes full
+	type information (adapted patch from Eric Chamberlain).
+
 	* tests/types_basic.py: fixed test broken by float precision fix.
 
 2009-11-09  Federico Di Gregorio  <fog@initd.org>
diff --git a/psycopg/microprotocols.c b/psycopg/microprotocols.c
index f451e7e0..2499358b 100644
--- a/psycopg/microprotocols.c
+++ b/psycopg/microprotocols.c
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ PyObject *
 microprotocols_adapt(PyObject *obj, PyObject *proto, PyObject *alt)
 {
     PyObject *adapter, *key;
+    char buffer[256];
 
     /* we don't check for exact type conformance as specified in PEP 246
        because the ISQLQuote type is abstract and there is no way to get a
@@ -114,7 +115,8 @@ microprotocols_adapt(PyObject *obj, PyObject *proto, PyObject *alt)
     }
 
     /* else set the right exception and return NULL */
-    psyco_set_error(ProgrammingError, NULL, "can't adapt", NULL, NULL);
+    PyOS_snprintf(buffer, 255, "can't adapt type '%s'", obj->ob_type->tp_name);
+    psyco_set_error(ProgrammingError, NULL, buffer, NULL, NULL);
     return NULL;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/types_extras.py b/tests/types_extras.py
index 6cd55c1c..98b1321d 100644
--- a/tests/types_extras.py
+++ b/tests/types_extras.py
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ class TypesExtrasTests(unittest.TestCase):
         s = self.execute("SELECT NULL::inet AS foo")
         self.failUnless(s is None)
 
+    def test_adapt_fail(self):
+        class Foo(object): pass
+        self.assertRaises(psycopg2.ProgrammingError,
+            psycopg2.extensions.adapt, Foo(), psycopg2.extensions.ISQLQuote, None)
+        try:
+            psycopg2.extensions.adapt(Foo(), psycopg2.extensions.ISQLQuote, None)
+        except psycopg2.ProgrammingError, err:
+            self.failUnless(str(err) == "can't adapt type 'Foo'")
+
 def test_suite():
     return unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromName(__name__)