diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/metadata/__init__.py b/src/pip/_internal/metadata/__init__.py
index f4f2a4f6cdb..58d7f890294 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -47,5 +47,12 @@ def get_wheel_distribution(wheel: Wheel, canonical_name: str) -> BaseDistributio
     :param canonical_name: Normalized project name of the given wheel.
     """
     from .pkg_resources import Distribution
-
-    return Distribution.from_wheel(wheel, canonical_name)
+    from zipfile import BadZipFile
+
+    try:
+        return Distribution.from_wheel(wheel, canonical_name)
+    except BadZipFile as e:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            "Unable to retrieve wheel {} with canonical name {}"
+            .format(wheel.location, canonical_name)
+        ) from e