diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 92cb9b2..7a7055b 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@
         Err(err) => err,
     };
     match T::description() {
-        Some(s) => Err(ParseError::new(format!("parsing {}: {}", s, err))),
+        Some(s) => Err(ParseError::new(format!("failed to parse {}: {}", s, err))),
         None => Err(err),
     }
 }