diff --git a/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteConfig.php b/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteConfig.php
index c522d3436ca..2e9f15475b7 100644
--- a/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteConfig.php
+++ b/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteConfig.php
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class RouteConfig {
 
 		$split = explode('#', $name, 2);
 		if (count($split) !== 2) {
-			throw new \UnexpectedValueException('Invalid route name');
+			throw new \UnexpectedValueException('Invalid route name: use the format foo#bar to reference FooController::bar');
 		}
 		list($controller, $action) = $split;
 
diff --git a/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteParser.php b/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteParser.php
index 8511ff9ee39..4b1b36b7550 100644
--- a/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteParser.php
+++ b/lib/private/AppFramework/Routing/RouteParser.php
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class RouteParser {
 
 		$split = explode('#', $name, 2);
 		if (count($split) !== 2) {
-			throw new \UnexpectedValueException('Invalid route name');
+			throw new \UnexpectedValueException('Invalid route name: use the format foo#bar to reference FooController::bar');
 		}
 		list($controller, $action) = $split;