diff --git a/main/db.c b/main/db.c
index 6a48b331fa..67a8ccdb72 100644
--- a/main/db.c
+++ b/main/db.c
@@ -204,6 +204,9 @@ static int db_open(void)
 			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** old astdb, please delete '%s'\n", dbname);
 			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** and re-run 'make menuselect' and select astdb2sqlite3\n");
 			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** in the Utilities section, then 'make && make install'.\n");
+			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** It is also imperative that the user under which\n");
+			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** Asterisk runs have write permission to the directory\n");
+			ast_log(LOG_ERROR, "*** where the database resides.\n");
 			sleep(5);
 		} else {
 			ast_log(LOG_NOTICE, "Database conversion succeeded!\n");