diff --git i/src/test/perl/PostgreSQL/Test/Utils.pm w/src/test/perl/PostgreSQL/Test/Utils.pm
index cd86897580c..3c588a41755 100644
--- i/src/test/perl/PostgreSQL/Test/Utils.pm
+++ w/src/test/perl/PostgreSQL/Test/Utils.pm
@@ -722,7 +722,8 @@ sub scan_server_header
     chomp($stdout);
     $stdout =~ s/\r$//;
 
-    open my $header_h, '<', "$stdout/$header_path" or die "$!";
+    my $fname = "$stdout/$header_path";
+    open my $header_h, '<', "$fname" or die "could not open $fname: $!";
 
     my @match = undef;
     while (<$header_h>)