diff --git a/libavformat/wav.c b/libavformat/wav.c
index bc6e31edc7..75e05890e6 100644
--- a/libavformat/wav.c
+++ b/libavformat/wav.c
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ static int wav_write_header(AVFormatContext *s)
     /* format header */
     fmt = start_tag(pb, "fmt ");
     if (put_wav_header(pb, s->streams[0]->codec) < 0) {
+        av_log(s, AV_LOG_ERROR, "%s codec not supported in WAVE format\n",
+               s->streams[0]->codec->codec->name);
         av_free(wav);
         return -1;
     }