diff --git a/src/ezfio.ml b/src/ezfio.ml
index 2c6ea0a..23a8337 100644
--- a/src/ezfio.ml
+++ b/src/ezfio.ml
@@ -378,7 +378,9 @@ let read_array type_conversion group name : 'a ezfio_array =
       (* Read one-dimensional arrays *)
       let read_1d nmax = 
         Ezfio_item (Array.init nmax (fun i->
-          type_conversion (trim (input_line in_channel))) )
+          let buffer = trim (input_line in_channel) in
+          try type_conversion buffer with
+          | Failure s -> failwith (s^": "^buffer))
       in
       (* Read multi-dimensional arrays *)
       let rec read_nd = function