diff --git a/breathe/parser/__init__.py b/breathe/parser/__init__.py
index 4faa8289..2cc722a2 100644
--- a/breathe/parser/__init__.py
+++ b/breathe/parser/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ def __init__(self, error, filename):
         self.error = error
         self.filename = filename
 
+    def __str__(self):
+        return ("file %s: %s" % (self.filename, self.error))
+
 
 class FileIOError(Exception):