diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/brew.sh b/Library/Homebrew/brew.sh
index d292b0e3d2144..74dfe880d5bc8 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/brew.sh
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/brew.sh
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ then
 fi
 if ! [[ -r "$(pwd)" ]]
 then
-  odie "The current working directory must be readable to run brew."
+  odie "The current working directory must be readable to ${USER} to run brew."
 fi
 
 #####
diff --git a/bin/brew b/bin/brew
index 87df3de94dc07..e033925b71967 100755
--- a/bin/brew
+++ b/bin/brew
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ then
 fi
 if ! [[ -r "${PWD}" ]]
 then
-  echo "Error: The current working directory must be readable to run brew." >&2
+  echo "Error: The current working directory must be readable to ${USER} to run brew." >&2
   exit 1
 fi