diff --git a/src/detect-http-header.c b/src/detect-http-header.c
index 8a7838042821..cd36ea597cd5 100644
--- a/src/detect-http-header.c
+++ b/src/detect-http-header.c
@@ -603,6 +603,8 @@ static void *HttpMultiBufHeaderThreadDataInit(void *data)
 
     /* This return value check to satisfy our Cocci malloc checks. */
     if (td == NULL) {
+        SCLogError("failed to allocate %" PRIuMAX " bytes: %s", (uintmax_t)sizeof(*td),
+                strerror(errno));
         return NULL;
     }
     return td;