diff --git a/include/maxscale/backend.hh b/include/maxscale/backend.hh
index a60f828ed..d220164a9 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/backend.hh
+++ b/include/maxscale/backend.hh
@@ -357,6 +357,16 @@ public:
      */
     void set_close_reason(const std::string& reason);
 
+    /**
+     * Get latest close reason
+     *
+     * @return A human-readable reason why the connection was closed
+     */
+    const std::string& close_reason() const
+    {
+        return m_close_reason;
+    }
+
 private:
     /**
      * Internal state of the backend
diff --git a/server/core/backend.cc b/server/core/backend.cc
index e7c71c52f..8a0cd1cc6 100644
--- a/server/core/backend.cc
+++ b/server/core/backend.cc
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ bool Backend::connect(MXS_SESSION* session, SessionCommandList* sescmd)
         m_closed_at = 0;
         m_opened_at = time(NULL);
         m_state = IN_USE;
+        m_close_reason.clear();
         mxb::atomic::add(&m_backend->connections, 1, mxb::atomic::RELAXED);
         rval = true;
         m_history_size = 0;
diff --git a/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplitsession.cc b/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplitsession.cc
index f82f2a897..e5099b6fa 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplitsession.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/readwritesplit/rwsplitsession.cc
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ void RWSplitSession::clientReply(GWBUF* writebuf, DCB* backend_dcb)
             // The connection was killed, we can safely ignore it. When the TCP connection is
             // closed, the router's error handling will sort it out.
             gwbuf_free(writebuf);
+            backend->set_close_reason("Connection was killed");
         }
         else
         {
@@ -604,6 +605,7 @@ void RWSplitSession::clientReply(GWBUF* writebuf, DCB* backend_dcb)
     {
         // The server is shutting down, ignore this error and wait for the TCP connection to die.
         // This allows the query to be retried on another server without the client noticing it.
+        backend->set_close_reason(std::string("Server '") + backend->name() + "' is shutting down");
         gwbuf_free(writebuf);
         return;
     }
@@ -1039,9 +1041,11 @@ void RWSplitSession::handleError(GWBUF* errmsgbuf,
                 {
                     int64_t idle = mxs_clock() - backend->dcb()->last_read;
                     MXS_ERROR("Lost connection to the master server '%s', closing session.%s "
-                              "Connection has been idle for %.1f seconds. Error caused by: %s",
+                              "Connection has been idle for %.1f seconds. Error caused by: %s. "
+                              "Last close reason: %s",
                               backend->name(), errmsg.c_str(), (float)idle / 10.f,
-                              extract_error(errmsgbuf).c_str());
+                              extract_error(errmsgbuf).c_str(),
+                              backend->close_reason().empty() ? "<none>" : backend->close_reason().c_str());
                 }
 
                 // Decrement the expected response count only if we know we can continue the sesssion.