diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 617b197..8b699c8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ Changes and improvements to testtools_, grouped by release.
 NEXT
 ~~~~
 
+Improvements
+------------
+
+* ``ExpectedException`` now accepts a msg parameter for describing an error,
+  much the same as assertEquals etc. (Robert Collins)
+
 0.9.30
 ~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/doc/for-test-authors.rst b/doc/for-test-authors.rst
index faaf36b..96cf5b0 100644
--- a/doc/for-test-authors.rst
+++ b/doc/for-test-authors.rst
@@ -163,7 +163,8 @@ The first argument to ``ExpectedException`` is the type of exception you
 expect to see raised.  The second argument is optional, and can be either a
 regular expression or a matcher. If it is a regular expression, the ``str()``
 of the raised exception must match the regular expression. If it is a matcher,
-then the raised exception object must match it.
+then the raised exception object must match it. The optional third argument
+``msg`` will cause the raised error to be annotated with that message.
 
 
 assertIn, assertNotIn
diff --git a/testtools/testcase.py b/testtools/testcase.py
index 628ddf2..53324e5 100644
--- a/testtools/testcase.py
+++ b/testtools/testcase.py
@@ -818,26 +818,33 @@ class ExpectedException:
     exception is raised, an AssertionError will be raised.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, exc_type, value_re=None):
+    def __init__(self, exc_type, value_re=None, msg=None):
         """Construct an `ExpectedException`.
 
         :param exc_type: The type of exception to expect.
         :param value_re: A regular expression to match against the
             'str()' of the raised exception.
+        :param msg: An optional message explaining the failure.
         """
         self.exc_type = exc_type
         self.value_re = value_re
+        self.msg = msg
 
     def __enter__(self):
         pass
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback):
         if exc_type is None:
-            raise AssertionError('%s not raised.' % self.exc_type.__name__)
+            error_msg = '%s not raised.' % self.exc_type.__name__
+            if self.msg:
+                error_msg = error_msg + ' : ' + self.msg
+            raise AssertionError(error_msg)
         if exc_type != self.exc_type:
             return False
         if self.value_re:
             matcher = MatchesException(self.exc_type, self.value_re)
+            if self.msg:
+                matcher = Annotate(self.msg, matcher)
             mismatch = matcher.match((exc_type, exc_value, traceback))
             if mismatch:
                 raise AssertionError(mismatch.describe())
diff --git a/testtools/tests/test_with_with.py b/testtools/tests/test_with_with.py
index e06adeb..4305c62 100644
--- a/testtools/tests/test_with_with.py
+++ b/testtools/tests/test_with_with.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from testtools import (
 from testtools.matchers import (
     AfterPreprocessing,
     Equals,
+    EndsWith,
     )
 
 
@@ -71,3 +72,17 @@ class TestExpectedException(TestCase):
     def test_pass_on_raise_any_message(self):
         with ExpectedException(ValueError):
             raise ValueError('whatever')
+    
+    def test_annotate(self):
+        def die():
+            with ExpectedException(ValueError, msg="foo"):
+                pass
+        exc = self.assertRaises(AssertionError, die)
+        self.assertThat(exc.args[0], EndsWith(': foo'))
+
+    def test_annotated_matcher(self):
+        def die():
+            with ExpectedException(ValueError, 'bar', msg="foo"):
+                pass
+        exc = self.assertRaises(AssertionError, die)
+        self.assertThat(exc.args[0], EndsWith(': foo'))