diff --git a/lib/couchrest/monkeypatches.rb b/lib/couchrest/monkeypatches.rb
index 95c52c3..c48ac7c 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/monkeypatches.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/monkeypatches.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ if RUBY_VERSION.to_f < 1.9
           if IO.select([@io], nil, nil, @read_timeout)
             retry
           else
-            raise Timeout::Error
+            raise Timeout::Error, "IO timeout"
           end
         end
       else