diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
index 3d6d9e360..c059c2a5e 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
@@ -1947,6 +1947,11 @@ void StressTest::Open() {
       }
       s = TransactionDB::Open(options_, txn_db_options, FLAGS_db,
                               cf_descriptors, &column_families_, &txn_db_);
+      if (!s.ok()) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error in opening the TransactionDB [%s]\n",
+                s.ToString().c_str());
+        fflush(stderr);
+      }
       assert(s.ok());
       db_ = txn_db_;
       // after a crash, rollback to commit recovered transactions