diff --git a/atom/renderer/lib/web-view/web-view.js b/atom/renderer/lib/web-view/web-view.js
index 49440527c406..9cc6ac4e8804 100644
--- a/atom/renderer/lib/web-view/web-view.js
+++ b/atom/renderer/lib/web-view/web-view.js
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ var registerWebViewElement = function() {
       if (internal.webContents) {
         return internal.webContents[m].apply(internal.webContents, args);
       } else {
-        throw new Error(`Cannot call ${m} before the dom-ready event is emitted`);
+        throw new Error(`Cannot call ${m} because the webContents is unavailable. The WebView must be attached to the DOM and the dom-ready event emmitted before this method can be called.`);
       }
     };
   };
diff --git a/spec/webview-spec.js b/spec/webview-spec.js
index 072a51f36a5a..0b6572a5084b 100644
--- a/spec/webview-spec.js
+++ b/spec/webview-spec.js
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ describe('<webview> tag', function() {
         readyError = error;
       }
 
-      assert.equal(readyError.message, 'Cannot call stop before the dom-ready event is emitted');
+      assert.equal(readyError.message, 'Cannot call stop because the webContents is unavailable. The WebView must be attached to the DOM and the dom-ready event emmitted before this method can be called.');
     });
   });