diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index 078b9fe00..ccf95beef 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ void RemoteStore::initConnection(Connection & conn)
 {
     /* Send the magic greeting, check for the reply. */
     try {
+        conn.from.endOfFileError = "Nix daemon disconnected unexpectedly (maybe it crashed?)";
         conn.to << WORKER_MAGIC_1;
         conn.to.flush();
         StringSink saved;
diff --git a/src/libutil/serialise.cc b/src/libutil/serialise.cc
index 316105603..7fc211491 100644
--- a/src/libutil/serialise.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/serialise.cc
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ size_t FdSource::readUnbuffered(char * data, size_t len)
         n = ::read(fd, data, len);
     } while (n == -1 && errno == EINTR);
     if (n == -1) { _good = false; throw SysError("reading from file"); }
-    if (n == 0) { _good = false; throw EndOfFile("unexpected end-of-file"); }
+    if (n == 0) { _good = false; throw EndOfFile(std::string(*endOfFileError)); }
     read += n;
     return n;
 }
diff --git a/src/libutil/serialise.hh b/src/libutil/serialise.hh
index 3f57ce88b..d9522566f 100644
--- a/src/libutil/serialise.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/serialise.hh
@@ -153,12 +153,13 @@ struct FdSource : BufferedSource
 {
     int fd;
     size_t read = 0;
+    BackedStringView endOfFileError{"unexpected end-of-file"};
 
     FdSource() : fd(-1) { }
     FdSource(int fd) : fd(fd) { }
-    FdSource(FdSource&&) = default;
+    FdSource(FdSource &&) = default;
 
-    FdSource& operator=(FdSource && s)
+    FdSource & operator=(FdSource && s)
     {
         fd = s.fd;
         s.fd = -1;