diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromConfiguration/CopyMojo.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromConfiguration/CopyMojo.java
index d7a3ba61d..a9de46fe0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromConfiguration/CopyMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromConfiguration/CopyMojo.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoFailureException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.Component;
@@ -108,16 +109,18 @@ protected void doExecute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
      *
      * @param artifactItem containing the information about the Artifact to copy.
      * @throws MojoExecutionException with a message if an error occurs.
-     * @see CopyUtil#copyFile(File, File)
+     * @see CopyUtil#copyArtifactFile(Artifact, File)
      */
     protected void copyArtifact(ArtifactItem artifactItem) throws MojoExecutionException {
         File destFile = new File(artifactItem.getOutputDirectory(), artifactItem.getDestFileName());
 
         try {
-            copyUtil.copyFile(artifactItem.getArtifact().getFile(), destFile);
+            copyUtil.copyArtifactFile(artifactItem.getArtifact(), destFile);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new MojoExecutionException(
-                    "Failed copy " + artifactItem.getArtifact().getFile() + " to " + destFile, e);
+                    "Failed to copy artifact '" + artifactItem.getArtifact() + "' ("
+                            + artifactItem.getArtifact().getFile() + ") to " + destFile,
+                    e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/CopyDependenciesMojo.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/CopyDependenciesMojo.java
index 97956ec72..48759af25 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/CopyDependenciesMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/CopyDependenciesMojo.java
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ protected void copyArtifact(
      * @param theUseBaseVersion specifies if the baseVersion of the artifact should be used instead of the version.
      * @param removeClassifier specifies if the classifier should be removed from the file name when copying.
      * @throws MojoExecutionException with a message if an error occurs.
-     * @see CopyUtil#copyFile(File, File)
+     * @see CopyUtil#copyArtifactFile(Artifact, File)
      * @see DependencyUtil#getFormattedOutputDirectory(boolean, boolean, boolean, boolean, boolean, boolean, File, Artifact)
      */
     protected void copyArtifact(
@@ -227,9 +227,10 @@ protected void copyArtifact(
         File destFile = new File(destDir, destFileName);
 
         try {
-            copyUtil.copyFile(artifact.getFile(), destFile);
+            copyUtil.copyArtifactFile(artifact, destFile);
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new MojoExecutionException("Failed copy " + artifact.getFile() + " to " + destFile, e);
+            throw new MojoExecutionException(
+                    "Failed to copy artifact '" + artifact + "' (" + artifact.getFile() + ") to " + destFile, e);
         }
     }
 
@@ -271,10 +272,12 @@ public void copyPoms(File destDir, Set<Artifact> artifacts, boolean removeVersio
                                 pomArtifact, removeVersion, prependGroupId, useBaseVersion, removeClassifier));
                 if (!pomDestFile.exists()) {
                     try {
-                        copyUtil.copyFile(pomArtifact.getFile(), pomDestFile);
+                        copyUtil.copyArtifactFile(pomArtifact, pomDestFile);
                     } catch (IOException e) {
                         throw new MojoExecutionException(
-                                "Failed copy " + pomArtifact.getFile() + " to " + pomDestFile, e);
+                                "Failed to copy artifact '" + pomArtifact + "' (" + pomArtifact.getFile() + ") to "
+                                        + pomDestFile,
+                                e);
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/utils/CopyUtil.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/utils/CopyUtil.java
index 8078081e1..21d067ae7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/utils/CopyUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/utils/CopyUtil.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -50,20 +51,23 @@ public CopyUtil(BuildContext buildContext) {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Does the actual copy of the file and logging.
+     * Does the actual copy of the artifact (file) and logging.
      *
-     * @param source represents the file to copy.
+     * @param sourceArtifact represents the artifact (file) to copy.
      * @param destination file name of destination file.
-     * @throws IOException with a message if an error occurs.
+     * @throws IOException if copy has failed
+     * @throws MojoExecutionException if artifact file is a directory (which has not been packaged yet)
      *
      * @since 3.7.0
      */
-    public void copyFile(File source, File destination) throws IOException, MojoExecutionException {
-        logger.info("Copying {} to {}", source, destination);
+    public void copyArtifactFile(Artifact sourceArtifact, File destination) throws IOException, MojoExecutionException {
+        logger.info("Copying artifact '{}' ({}) to {}", sourceArtifact, sourceArtifact.getFile(), destination);
 
+        File source = sourceArtifact.getFile();
         if (source.isDirectory()) {
             // usual case is a future jar packaging, but there are special cases: classifier and other packaging
-            throw new MojoExecutionException("Artifact has not been packaged yet. When used on reactor artifact, "
+            throw new MojoExecutionException("Artifact '" + sourceArtifact
+                    + "' has not been packaged yet (is a directory). When used on reactor artifact, "
                     + "copy should be executed after packaging: see MDEP-187.");
         }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/AbstractDependencyMojoTestCase.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/AbstractDependencyMojoTestCase.java
index 5fb0180ea..cde5ea883 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/AbstractDependencyMojoTestCase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/AbstractDependencyMojoTestCase.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.LegacySupport;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.testing.AbstractMojoTestCase;
@@ -63,14 +64,14 @@ protected void tearDown() {
                 FileUtils.deleteDirectory(testDir);
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 e.printStackTrace();
-                fail("Trying to remove directory:" + testDir + System.lineSeparator() + e);
+                fail("Trying to remove directory: " + testDir + System.lineSeparator() + e);
             }
             assertFalse(testDir.exists());
         }
     }
 
-    protected void copyFile(File artifact, File destFile) throws MojoExecutionException, IOException {
-        new CopyUtil(new DefaultBuildContext()).copyFile(artifact, destFile);
+    protected void copyArtifactFile(Artifact sourceArtifact, File destFile) throws MojoExecutionException, IOException {
+        new CopyUtil(new DefaultBuildContext()).copyArtifactFile(sourceArtifact, destFile);
     }
 
     protected void installLocalRepository(LegacySupport legacySupport) throws ComponentLookupException {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/TestCopyDependenciesMojo.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/TestCopyDependenciesMojo.java
index c2f7c6946..e2a14f168 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/TestCopyDependenciesMojo.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/dependency/fromDependencies/TestCopyDependenciesMojo.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.LegacySupport;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoFailureException;
+import org.apache.maven.plugin.testing.stubs.ArtifactStub;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.dependency.AbstractDependencyMojoTestCase;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.dependency.testUtils.stubs.DependencyProjectStub;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.dependency.utils.DependencyUtil;
@@ -80,14 +81,19 @@ public void assertNoMarkerFile(Artifact artifact) throws MojoExecutionException
         assertFalse(handle.isMarkerSet());
     }
 
-    public void testCopyFile() throws Exception {
+    public void testCopyArtifactFile() throws Exception {
+        final Artifact srcArtifact = new ArtifactStub();
+        srcArtifact.setGroupId("org.apache.maven.plugins");
+        srcArtifact.setArtifactId("maven-dependency-plugin-dummy");
+        srcArtifact.setVersion("1.0");
         File src = File.createTempFile("copy", null);
+        srcArtifact.setFile(src);
 
         File dest = new File(mojo.outputDirectory, "toMe.jar");
 
         assertFalse(dest.exists());
 
-        copyFile(src, dest);
+        copyArtifactFile(srcArtifact, dest);
         assertTrue(dest.exists());
     }