diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
index e8d9f750ee..14de638761 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ public class TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer implements EmbeddedServletContainer
 			}
 			catch (Exception ex) {
 				this.logger.error("Cannot start connector: ", ex);
+				throw new EmbeddedServletContainerException(
+						"Unable to start embdedded Tomcat connectors", ex);
 			}
 		}
 	}