diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
index 19e9753c72467f..d62986da955955 100644
--- a/lib/_http_client.js
+++ b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -178,8 +178,10 @@ function ClientRequest(input, options, cb) {
 
   if (options.path) {
     const path = String(options.path);
-    if (RegExpPrototypeExec(INVALID_PATH_REGEX, path) !== null)
+    if (RegExpPrototypeExec(INVALID_PATH_REGEX, path) !== null) {
+      debug('Path contains unescaped characters: "%s"', path);
       throw new ERR_UNESCAPED_CHARACTERS('Request path');
+    }
   }
 
   if (protocol !== expectedProtocol) {