diff --git a/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperations.java b/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperations.java
index 8dd9948698..f5afbc04dc 100644
--- a/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperations.java
+++ b/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperations.java
@@ -286,8 +286,12 @@ <T> T withRetries(Operation<T> operation) throws SQLException {
         if (timeLeft == 0 || attempts >= maxAttempts || !isRetryable(sqlException)) {
           String exceptionMessage =
               String.format(
-                  "Failed due to %s, after , %s attempts and %s milliseconds",
-                  sqlException.getMessage(), attempts, maxDuration);
+                  "Failed due to '%s' (error code %d, sql-state '%s'), after %s attempts and %s milliseconds",
+                  sqlException.getMessage(),
+                  sqlException.getErrorCode(),
+                  sqlException.getSQLState(),
+                  attempts,
+                  maxDuration);
           throw new SQLException(
               exceptionMessage, sqlException.getSQLState(), sqlException.getErrorCode(), e);
         }
diff --git a/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperationsTest.java b/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperationsTest.java
index ae6f569cc5..26f452a087 100644
--- a/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperationsTest.java
+++ b/persistence/relational-jdbc/src/test/java/org/apache/polaris/persistence/relational/jdbc/DatasourceOperationsTest.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ void testRetryAttemptsExceedMaxRetries() throws SQLException {
     SQLException thrown =
         assertThrows(SQLException.class, () -> datasourceOperations.withRetries(mockOperation));
     assertEquals(
-        "Failed due to Retryable error, after , 2 attempts and 1000 milliseconds",
+        "Failed due to 'Retryable error' (error code 0, sql-state '40001'), after 2 attempts and 1000 milliseconds",
         thrown.getMessage());
     verify(mockOperation, times(2)).execute(); // Tried twice, then threw
   }
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ void testNonRetryableSQLException() throws SQLException {
     SQLException thrown =
         assertThrows(SQLException.class, () -> datasourceOperations.withRetries(mockOperation));
     assertEquals(
-        "Failed due to NonRetryable error, after , 1 attempts and 1000 milliseconds",
+        "Failed due to 'NonRetryable error' (error code 0, sql-state 'null'), after 1 attempts and 1000 milliseconds",
         thrown.getMessage());
     verify(mockOperation, times(1)).execute(); // Should not retry
   }