diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 6eb1dfea09..1b67f5fda5 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -845,7 +845,8 @@ static int fetch_one(struct remote *remote, int argc, const char **argv)
 	int exit_code;
 
 	if (!remote)
-		die("Where do you want to fetch from today?");
+		die("No remote repository specified.  Please, specify either a URL or a\n"
+		    "remote name from which new revisions should be fetched.");
 
 	transport = transport_get(remote, NULL);
 	transport_set_verbosity(transport, verbosity, progress);