diff --git a/python/tvm/contrib/mxcc.py b/python/tvm/contrib/mxcc.py
index c5ad9eca5969..880f499b5f3c 100644
--- a/python/tvm/contrib/mxcc.py
+++ b/python/tvm/contrib/mxcc.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import re
 import os
+import shlex
 import subprocess
 import warnings
 from typing import Tuple
@@ -31,6 +32,26 @@
 from . import utils
 
 
+def _format_mxcc_error(cmd, compiler_output, code):
+    """Format an mxcc failure with enough context for reproduction."""
+    command_text = shlex.join([str(part) for part in cmd])
+    if isinstance(compiler_output, bytes):
+        compiler_text = compiler_output.decode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+    else:
+        compiler_text = py_str(compiler_output)
+    return "\n".join(
+        [
+            "MACA compilation failed.",
+            "Command:",
+            command_text,
+            "Compiler output:",
+            compiler_text,
+            "Source:",
+            code,
+        ]
+    )
+
+
 def compile_maca(
     code, target_format="mcbin", arch=None, options=None, path_target=None
 ):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -108,10 +129,7 @@ def compile_maca(
     (out, _) = proc.communicate()
 
     if proc.returncode != 0:
-        msg = code
-        msg += "\nCompilation error:\n"
-        msg += py_str(out)
-        raise RuntimeError(msg)
+        raise RuntimeError(_format_mxcc_error(cmd, out, code))
 
     with open(file_target, "rb") as f:
         data = bytearray(f.read())
diff --git a/tests/python/contrib/test_mxcc_error_message.py b/tests/python/contrib/test_mxcc_error_message.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8e518039a017
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/python/contrib/test_mxcc_error_message.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from tvm.contrib import mxcc
+
+
+def test_error_message_includes_reproducible_command():
+    cmd = ["mxcc", "-device-obj", "-o", Path("/tmp/out.mcbin"), "/tmp/in.maca"]
+    source = 'extern "C" __global__ void broken() {}'
+    message = mxcc._format_mxcc_error(cmd, b"syntax error", source)
+
+    assert "MACA compilation failed." in message
+    assert "mxcc -device-obj -o /tmp/out.mcbin /tmp/in.maca" in message
+    assert "syntax error" in message
+    assert source in message
+
+
+def test_error_message_replaces_non_utf8_output():
+    message = mxcc._format_mxcc_error(["mxcc"], b"\xff", "__kernel")
+
+    assert "Compiler output:" in message
+    assert "\ufffd" in message