diff --git a/crates/librqbit/Cargo.toml b/crates/librqbit/Cargo.toml
index 4d4261e..03ec357 100644
--- a/crates/librqbit/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/librqbit/Cargo.toml
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ lru = { version = "0.12.3", optional = true }
 mime_guess = { version = "2.0.5", default-features = false }
 tokio-socks = "0.5.2"
 
+[build-dependencies]
+anyhow = "1"
+
 [dev-dependencies]
 futures = { version = "0.3" }
 tracing-subscriber = "0.3"
diff --git a/crates/librqbit/build.rs b/crates/librqbit/build.rs
index 4270ec8..d55f8ed 100644
--- a/crates/librqbit/build.rs
+++ b/crates/librqbit/build.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use anyhow::Context;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::process::Command;
 
@@ -19,14 +20,15 @@ fn main() {
                 .args(args)
                 .current_dir(webui_dir)
                 .output()
-                .unwrap_or_else(|_| {
-                    panic!(
+                .with_context(|| {
+                    format!(
                         "Failed to execute {} {} in {:?}",
                         cmd,
                         args.join(" "),
                         webui_dir
                     )
-                });
+                })
+                .unwrap();
 
             if !output.status.success() {
                 panic!(