diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
index 45693960c2..855cbf9fcb 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
@@ -4004,6 +4004,7 @@ Session::save_as (SaveAs& saveas)
 	/* create new tree */
 	
 	if (!_session_dir->create()) {
+		saveas.failure_message = string_compose (_("Cannot create new session folder %1"), to_dir);
 		return -1;
 	}