diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/vault-read-error.yml b/changelogs/fragments/vault-read-error.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6f9c6e35c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/vault-read-error.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- vault - Improve error messages encountered when reading vault files (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/49252)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
index b6967edde8..6022b5aa58 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/parsing/vault/__init__.py
@@ -1030,7 +1030,10 @@ class VaultEditor:
                 with open(filename, "rb") as fh:
                     data = fh.read()
         except Exception as e:
-            raise AnsibleError(to_native(e))
+            msg = to_native(e)
+            if not msg:
+                msg = repr(e)
+            raise AnsibleError('Unable to read source file (%s): %s' % (to_native(filename), msg))
 
         return data