diff --git a/src/backend/storage/file/buffile.c b/src/backend/storage/file/buffile.c
index d3722616bb..5d4dcb102f 100644
--- a/src/backend/storage/file/buffile.c
+++ b/src/backend/storage/file/buffile.c
@@ -304,7 +304,8 @@ BufFileOpenShared(SharedFileSet *fileset, const char *name)
 	if (nfiles == 0)
 		ereport(ERROR,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not open BufFile \"%s\"", name)));
+				 errmsg("could not open temporary file \"%s\" from BufFile \"%s\": %m",
+						segment_name, name)));
 
 	file = makeBufFileCommon(nfiles);
 	file->files = files;
@@ -763,20 +764,26 @@ BufFileTellBlock(BufFile *file)
 #endif
 
 /*
- * Return the current file size.
+ * Return the current shared BufFile size.
  *
  * Counts any holes left behind by BufFileAppend as part of the size.
- * Returns -1 on error.
+ * ereport()s on failure.
  */
 int64
 BufFileSize(BufFile *file)
 {
 	int64		lastFileSize;
 
+	Assert(file->fileset != NULL);
+
 	/* Get the size of the last physical file. */
 	lastFileSize = FileSize(file->files[file->numFiles - 1]);
 	if (lastFileSize < 0)
-		return -1;
+		ereport(ERROR,
+				(errcode_for_file_access(),
+				 errmsg("could not determine size of temporary file \"%s\" from BufFile \"%s\": %m",
+						FilePathName(file->files[file->numFiles - 1]),
+						file->name)));
 
 	return ((file->numFiles - 1) * (int64) MAX_PHYSICAL_FILESIZE) +
 		lastFileSize;
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/sort/logtape.c b/src/backend/utils/sort/logtape.c
index 269523d5f6..2358c6fe52 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/sort/logtape.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/sort/logtape.c
@@ -433,10 +433,6 @@ ltsConcatWorkerTapes(LogicalTapeSet *lts, TapeShare *shared,
 		pg_itoa(i, filename);
 		file = BufFileOpenShared(fileset, filename);
 		filesize = BufFileSize(file);
-		if (filesize < 0)
-			ereport(ERROR,
-					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not determine size of temporary file \"%s\"", filename)));
 
 		/*
 		 * Stash first BufFile, and concatenate subsequent BufFiles to that.