diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index d3c83e7e564..cd7dd97315b 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 2012-12-21  Daiki Ueno  <ueno@gnu.org>
 
 	* epg.el (epg--start): Print GPG_AGENT_INFO in the debug buffer.
+	(epg-error): Set `error-message' property.
 
 2012-12-21  Chong Yidong  <cyd@gnu.org>
 
diff --git a/lisp/epg.el b/lisp/epg.el
index ea97ddd747c..833a68d6e7e 100644
--- a/lisp/epg.el
+++ b/lisp/epg.el
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@
 (defvar epg-prompt-alist nil)
 
 (put 'epg-error 'error-conditions '(epg-error error))
+(put 'epg-error 'error-message "GPG error")
 
 (defun epg-make-data-from-file (file)
   "Make a data object from FILE."