diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/AnnotationRepositoryConfigurationSource.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/AnnotationRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
index 1d5290a43..c91057d4a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/AnnotationRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/AnnotationRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
@@ -321,6 +321,19 @@ public class AnnotationRepositoryConfigurationSource extends RepositoryConfigura
 		}
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.repository.config.RepositoryConfigurationSource#getResourceDescription()
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public String getResourceDescription() {
+
+		String simpleClassName = ClassUtils.getShortName(configMetadata.getClassName());
+		String annoationClassName = ClassUtils.getShortName(enableAnnotationMetadata.getClassName());
+
+		return String.format("@%s declared on %s", annoationClassName, simpleClassName);
+	}
+
 	private Streamable<TypeFilter> parseFilters(String attributeName) {
 
 		AnnotationAttributes[] filters = attributes.getAnnotationArray(attributeName);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/DefaultRepositoryConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/DefaultRepositoryConfiguration.java
index 8c2e181b7..92e478836 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/DefaultRepositoryConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/DefaultRepositoryConfiguration.java
@@ -214,4 +214,14 @@ public class DefaultRepositoryConfiguration<T extends RepositoryConfigurationSou
 
 		return toImplementationDetectionConfiguration(factory).forRepositoryConfiguration(this);
 	}
+
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.repository.config.RepositoryConfiguration#getResourceDescription()
+	 */
+	@Override
+	@org.springframework.lang.NonNull
+	public String getResourceDescription() {
+		return String.format("%s defined in %s", getRepositoryInterface(), configurationSource.getResourceDescription());
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfiguration.java
index 503c49fee..e62324cdf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfiguration.java
@@ -139,4 +139,12 @@ public interface RepositoryConfiguration<T extends RepositoryConfigurationSource
 	 */
 	ImplementationLookupConfiguration toLookupConfiguration(MetadataReaderFactory factory);
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns a human readable description of the repository interface declaration for error reporting purposes.
+	 *
+	 * @return can be {@literal null}.
+	 * @since 2.3
+	 */
+	@Nullable
+	String getResourceDescription();
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationDelegate.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationDelegate.java
index 1a7c332b8..322aa153e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationDelegate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationDelegate.java
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ public class RepositoryConfigurationDelegate {
 
 			AbstractBeanDefinition beanDefinition = definitionBuilder.getBeanDefinition();
 			beanDefinition.setPrimary(configuration.isPrimary());
+			beanDefinition.setResourceDescription(configuration.getResourceDescription());
 
 			String beanName = configurationSource.generateBeanName(beanDefinition);
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationSource.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationSource.java
index b451237ab..928b8a230 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationSource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryConfigurationSource.java
@@ -171,4 +171,13 @@ public interface RepositoryConfigurationSource {
 	 * @since 2.1
 	 */
 	BootstrapMode getBootstrapMode();
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns a human readable description of the repository configuration source for error reporting purposes.
+	 *
+	 * @return can be {@literal null}.
+	 * @since 2.3
+	 */
+	@Nullable
+	String getResourceDescription();
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/XmlRepositoryConfigurationSource.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/XmlRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
index 7266cc28e..37c364a75 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/XmlRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/XmlRepositoryConfigurationSource.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.springframework.data.config.TypeFilterParser.Type;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.query.QueryLookupStrategy.Key;
 import org.springframework.data.util.ParsingUtils;
 import org.springframework.data.util.Streamable;
+import org.springframework.lang.NonNull;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
@@ -244,6 +245,19 @@ public class XmlRepositoryConfigurationSource extends RepositoryConfigurationSou
 				: BootstrapMode.DEFAULT;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
+	 * @see org.springframework.data.repository.config.RepositoryConfigurationSource#getResourceDescription()
+	 */
+	@Override
+	@NonNull
+	public String getResourceDescription() {
+
+		Object source = getSource();
+
+		return source == null ? "" : source.toString();
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns the {@link BeanNameGenerator} to use falling back to an {@link AnnotationBeanNameGenerator} if either the
 	 * given generator is {@literal null} or it's {@link DefaultBeanNameGenerator} in particular. This is to make sure we
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportIntegrationTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportIntegrationTests.java
index 67d2e6334..437c798f5 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/repository/config/RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportIntegrationTests.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.FilterType;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.config.RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportUnitTests.DummyConfigurationExtension;
+import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 
 /**
  * Integration tests for {@link RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupport}.
@@ -91,4 +92,15 @@ public class RepositoryBeanDefinitionRegistrarSupportIntegrationTests {
 	public void composedRepositoriesShouldBeAssembledCorrectly() {
 		assertThat(context.getBean(ComposedRepository.class).getOne()).isEqualTo("one");
 	}
+
+	@Test // DATACMNS-1620
+	public void registeredBeanDefinitionsContainHumanReadableResourceDescription() {
+
+		BeanDefinition definition = context.getBeanDefinition("myRepository");
+
+		assertThat(definition.getResourceDescription()) //
+				.contains(MyRepository.class.getName()) //
+				.contains(EnableRepositories.class.getSimpleName()) //
+				.contains(ClassUtils.getShortName(SampleConfig.class));
+	}
 }