diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/DefaultDirObjectFactory.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/DefaultDirObjectFactory.java
index 3aeb8a3d..ca4bdf58 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/DefaultDirObjectFactory.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/DefaultDirObjectFactory.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import javax.naming.spi.DirObjectFactory;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.springframework.core.JdkVersion;
 import org.springframework.ldap.core.DirContextAdapter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.core.DistinguishedName;
 import org.springframework.ldap.support.LdapUtils;
@@ -153,8 +154,17 @@ public class DefaultDirObjectFactory implements DirObjectFactory {
 				nameString = pathString;
 			}
 			catch (URISyntaxException e) {
-				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Supplied name starts with protocol prefix indicating a referral,"
-						+ " but is not possible to parse to an URI", e);
+				if (JdkVersion.isAtLeastJava15()) {
+					throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+							"Supplied name starts with protocol prefix indicating a referral,"
+									+ " but is not possible to parse to an URI",
+							e);
+				} else {
+					throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+							"Supplied name starts with protocol prefix indicating a referral,"
+									+ " but is not possible to parse to an URI: " +
+							e.getMessage());
+				}
 			}
 			if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
 				log.debug("Resulting name after removal of referral information: '" + nameString + "'");