diff --git a/instant-xml/src/de.rs b/instant-xml/src/de.rs
index 987ea94..2e40e50 100644
--- a/instant-xml/src/de.rs
+++ b/instant-xml/src/de.rs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ impl<'cx, 'xml> Deserializer<'cx, 'xml> {
         match self.next() {
             Some(Ok(Node::AttributeValue(s))) => Ok(s),
             Some(Ok(Node::Text(s))) => Ok(s),
-            Some(Ok(_)) => return Err(Error::ExpectedScalar),
+            Some(Ok(node)) => return Err(Error::ExpectedScalar(format!("{node:?}"))),
             Some(Err(e)) => return Err(e),
             None => return Err(Error::MissingValue(&Kind::Scalar)),
         }
diff --git a/instant-xml/src/lib.rs b/instant-xml/src/lib.rs
index 3a74945..f034c54 100644
--- a/instant-xml/src/lib.rs
+++ b/instant-xml/src/lib.rs
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ pub enum Error {
     UnexpectedNode(String),
     #[error("unexpected state: {0}")]
     UnexpectedState(&'static str),
-    #[error("expected scalar")]
-    ExpectedScalar,
+    #[error("expected scalar, found {0}")]
+    ExpectedScalar(String),
     #[error("duplicate value")]
     DuplicateValue,
 }