diff --git a/cmd/podman/varlink.go b/cmd/podman/varlink.go
index 73ffcdb3f0..613678f407 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/varlink.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/varlink.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func varlinkCmd(c *cliconfig.VarlinkValues) error {
 			logrus.Infof("varlink service expired (use --timeout to increase session time beyond %d ms, 0 means never timeout)", c.Int64("timeout"))
 			return nil
 		default:
-			return errors.Errorf("unable to start varlink service")
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "unable to start varlink service")
 		}
 	}