diff --git a/letsencrypt/plugins/manual.py b/letsencrypt/plugins/manual.py
index 2014c8c0e..3f7276725 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/plugins/manual.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/plugins/manual.py
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ binary for temporary key/certificate generation.""".replace("\n", "")
                 achall.account_key.public_key(), self.config.simple_http_port):
             return response
         else:
+            logger.error(
+                "Self-verify of challenge failed, authorization abandoned.")
             if self.conf("test-mode") and self._httpd.poll() is not None:
                 # simply verify cause command failure...
                 return False