diff --git a/src/caffe/layers/base_conv_layer.cpp b/src/caffe/layers/base_conv_layer.cpp
index 35c90145e31..aff0a7548c7 100644
--- a/src/caffe/layers/base_conv_layer.cpp
+++ b/src/caffe/layers/base_conv_layer.cpp
@@ -193,7 +193,9 @@ void BaseConvolutionLayer<Dtype>::Reshape(const vector<Blob<Dtype>*>& bottom,
   // TODO: generalize to handle inputs of different shapes.
   for (int bottom_id = 1; bottom_id < bottom.size(); ++bottom_id) {
     CHECK(bottom[0]->shape() == bottom[bottom_id]->shape())
-        << "All inputs must have the same shape.";
+        << "shape mismatch - bottom[0]: " << bottom[0]->shape_string()
+        << " vs. bottom[" << bottom_id << "]: "
+        << bottom[bottom_id]->shape_string();
   }
   // Shape the tops.
   bottom_shape_ = &bottom[0]->shape();
diff --git a/src/caffe/layers/recurrent_layer.cpp b/src/caffe/layers/recurrent_layer.cpp
index e0c82773392..9cd3206f66a 100644
--- a/src/caffe/layers/recurrent_layer.cpp
+++ b/src/caffe/layers/recurrent_layer.cpp
@@ -214,8 +214,9 @@ void RecurrentLayer<Dtype>::Reshape(const vector<Blob<Dtype>*>& bottom,
     const int bottom_offset = 2 + static_input_;
     for (int i = bottom_offset, j = 0; i < bottom.size(); ++i, ++j) {
       CHECK(recur_input_blobs_[j]->shape() == bottom[i]->shape())
-          << "bottom[" << i << "] shape must match hidden state input shape: "
-          << recur_input_blobs_[j]->shape_string();
+          << "shape mismatch - recur_input_blobs_[" << j << "]: "
+          << recur_input_blobs_[j]->shape_string()
+          << " vs. bottom[" << i << "]: " << bottom[i]->shape_string();
       recur_input_blobs_[j]->ShareData(*bottom[i]);
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/caffe/layers/slice_layer.cpp b/src/caffe/layers/slice_layer.cpp
index 759beafe0d9..64de0964483 100644
--- a/src/caffe/layers/slice_layer.cpp
+++ b/src/caffe/layers/slice_layer.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@ void SliceLayer<Dtype>::Reshape(const vector<Blob<Dtype>*>& bottom,
   int count = 0;
   if (slice_point_.size() != 0) {
     CHECK_EQ(slice_point_.size(), top.size() - 1);
-    CHECK_LE(top.size(), bottom_slice_axis);
+    CHECK_LE(top.size(), bottom_slice_axis)
+        << "slice axis: " << slice_axis_
+        << ", bottom[0] shape: " << bottom[0]->shape_string();
     int prev = 0;
     vector<int> slices;
     for (int i = 0; i < slice_point_.size(); ++i) {