diff --git a/src/ray/gcs/redis_context.cc b/src/ray/gcs/redis_context.cc
index 4192262e9..8a4a19a97 100644
--- a/src/ray/gcs/redis_context.cc
+++ b/src/ray/gcs/redis_context.cc
@@ -284,21 +284,40 @@ void SetDisconnectCallback(RedisAsyncContext *redis_async_context) {
                                   RedisAsyncContextDisconnectCallback);
 }
 
+template <typename RedisContext, typename RedisConnectFunction>
+Status ConnectWithoutRetries(const std::string &address, int port,
+                             const RedisConnectFunction &connect_function,
+                             RedisContext **context, std::string &errorMessage) {
+  // This currently returns the errorMessage in two different ways,
+  // as an output parameter and in the Status::RedisError,
+  // because we're not sure whether we'll want to change what this returns.
+  *context = connect_function(address.c_str(), port);
+  if (*context == nullptr || (*context)->err) {
+    std::ostringstream oss(errorMessage);
+    if (*context == nullptr) {
+      oss << "Could not allocate Redis context.";
+    } else if ((*context)->err) {
+      oss << "Could not establish connection to Redis " << address << ":" << port
+          << " (context.err = " << (*context)->err << ")";
+    }
+    return Status::RedisError(errorMessage);
+  }
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
 template <typename RedisContext, typename RedisConnectFunction>
 Status ConnectWithRetries(const std::string &address, int port,
                           const RedisConnectFunction &connect_function,
                           RedisContext **context) {
   int connection_attempts = 0;
-  *context = connect_function(address.c_str(), port);
-  while (*context == nullptr || (*context)->err) {
+  std::string errorMessage = "";
+  Status status =
+      ConnectWithoutRetries(address, port, connect_function, context, errorMessage);
+  while (!status.ok()) {
     if (connection_attempts >= RayConfig::instance().redis_db_connect_retries()) {
-      if (*context == nullptr) {
-        RAY_LOG(FATAL) << "Could not allocate redis context.";
-      }
-      if ((*context)->err) {
-        RAY_LOG(FATAL) << "Could not establish connection to redis " << address << ":"
-                       << port << " (context.err = " << (*context)->err << ")";
-      }
+      RAY_LOG(FATAL) << RayConfig::instance().redis_db_connect_retries() << " attempts "
+                     << "to connect have all failed. The last error message was: "
+                     << errorMessage;
       break;
     }
     if (*context == nullptr) {
@@ -316,7 +335,8 @@ Status ConnectWithRetries(const std::string &address, int port,
     // Sleep for a little.
     std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(
         RayConfig::instance().redis_db_connect_wait_milliseconds()));
-    *context = connect_function(address.c_str(), port);
+    status =
+        ConnectWithoutRetries(address, port, connect_function, context, errorMessage);
     connection_attempts += 1;
   }
   return Status::OK();