diff --git a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/Nexus.kt b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/Nexus.kt
index 84412351..4951c8fc 100644
--- a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/Nexus.kt
+++ b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/Nexus.kt
@@ -200,8 +200,26 @@ class Nexus(
         break
       }
       if (repository?.type == "open" && !repository.transitioning && repository.notifications > 0) {
-        val url = baseUrl.toHttpUrl().newBuilder("/#stagingRepositories").toString()
-        throw IOException("Closing the repository failed. ${repository.notifications} messages are available on $url")
+        val properties = try {
+          val response = service.getRepositoryActivity(repositoryId).execute()
+          if (response.isSuccessful) {
+            response.body()?.find { it.name == "close" }
+              ?.events?.find { it.name == "ruleFailed" }
+              ?.properties?.filter { it.name == "failureMessage" }
+          } else {
+            emptyList()
+          }
+        } catch (_: IOException) {
+          emptyList()
+        }
+
+        if (properties.isNullOrEmpty()) {
+          val url = baseUrl.toHttpUrl().newBuilder("/#stagingRepositories").toString()
+          throw IOException("Closing the repository failed. ${repository.notifications} messages are available on $url")
+        } else {
+          val message = properties.joinToString("\n") { it.value }
+          throw IOException("Closing the repository failed with the following errors:\n$message")
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusModel.kt b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusModel.kt
index 8b6742c4..669b363e 100644
--- a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusModel.kt
+++ b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusModel.kt
@@ -28,6 +28,15 @@ internal data class Repository(
   val notifications: Int
 )
 
+@JsonClass(generateAdapter = true)
+internal data class RepositoryEventProperty(val name: String, val value: String)
+
+@JsonClass(generateAdapter = true)
+internal data class RepositoryEvent(val name: String, val properties: List<RepositoryEventProperty>)
+
+@JsonClass(generateAdapter = true)
+internal data class RepositoryActivity(val name: String, val events: List<RepositoryEvent>)
+
 @JsonClass(generateAdapter = true)
 internal data class ProfileRepositoriesResponse(val data: List<Repository>)
 
diff --git a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusService.kt b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusService.kt
index 6e9a4b17..ad34f47d 100644
--- a/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusService.kt
+++ b/nexus/src/main/kotlin/com/vanniktech/maven/publish/nexus/NexusService.kt
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ internal interface NexusService {
   @GET("staging/repository/{repositoryId}")
   fun getRepository(@Path("repositoryId") repositoryId: String): Call<Repository>
 
+  @GET("staging/repository/{repositoryId}/activity")
+  fun getRepositoryActivity(@Path("repositoryId") repositoryId: String): Call<List<RepositoryActivity>>
+
   @POST("staging/bulk/close")
   fun closeRepository(@Body input: TransitionRepositoryInput): Call<Unit>