diff --git a/hphp/compiler/option.cpp b/hphp/compiler/option.cpp
index 3fa9e05e3..4ed9cb481 100644
--- a/hphp/compiler/option.cpp
+++ b/hphp/compiler/option.cpp
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ std::string Option::GetSystemRoot() {
   if (SystemRoot.empty()) {
     const char *home = getenv("HPHP_HOME");
     if (!home || !*home) {
-      throw Exception("Environment variable HPHP_HOME is not set.");
+      throw Exception("Environment variable HPHP_HOME is not set, "
+                      "and neither is the SystemRoot option.");
     }
     SystemRoot = home;
     SystemRoot += "/hphp";
diff --git a/hphp/test/run b/hphp/test/run
index 92c3243af..0066f65b8 100755
--- a/hphp/test/run
+++ b/hphp/test/run
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ function idx_file($array, $key, $default = null) {
 }
 
 function bin_root() {
-  return idx($_ENV, 'FBMAKE_BIN_ROOT', 
-    is_dir(hphp_home().'/_bin') ? 
+  return idx($_ENV, 'FBMAKE_BIN_ROOT',
+    is_dir(hphp_home().'/_bin') ?
       hphp_home().'/_bin' : # fbmake
       hphp_home() # github
   );