Index: ext/rtree/rtree.c
==================================================================
--- ext/rtree/rtree.c
+++ ext/rtree/rtree.c
@@ -3047,11 +3047,12 @@
 ** would fit in a single node, use a smaller node-size.
 */
 static int getNodeSize(
   sqlite3 *db,                    /* Database handle */
   Rtree *pRtree,                  /* Rtree handle */
-  int isCreate                    /* True for xCreate, false for xConnect */
+  int isCreate,                   /* True for xCreate, false for xConnect */
+  char **pzErr                    /* OUT: Error message, if any */
 ){
   int rc;
   char *zSql;
   if( isCreate ){
     int iPageSize = 0;
@@ -3060,17 +3061,22 @@
     if( rc==SQLITE_OK ){
       pRtree->iNodeSize = iPageSize-64;
       if( (4+pRtree->nBytesPerCell*RTREE_MAXCELLS)<pRtree->iNodeSize ){
         pRtree->iNodeSize = 4+pRtree->nBytesPerCell*RTREE_MAXCELLS;
       }
+    }else{
+      *pzErr = sqlite3_mprintf("%s", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
     }
   }else{
     zSql = sqlite3_mprintf(
         "SELECT length(data) FROM '%q'.'%q_node' WHERE nodeno = 1",
         pRtree->zDb, pRtree->zName
     );
     rc = getIntFromStmt(db, zSql, &pRtree->iNodeSize);
+    if( rc!=SQLITE_OK ){
+      *pzErr = sqlite3_mprintf("%s", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+    }
   }
 
   sqlite3_free(zSql);
   return rc;
 }
@@ -3130,11 +3136,11 @@
   pRtree->eCoordType = eCoordType;
   memcpy(pRtree->zDb, argv[1], nDb);
   memcpy(pRtree->zName, argv[2], nName);
 
   /* Figure out the node size to use. */
-  rc = getNodeSize(db, pRtree, isCreate);
+  rc = getNodeSize(db, pRtree, isCreate, pzErr);
 
   /* Create/Connect to the underlying relational database schema. If
   ** that is successful, call sqlite3_declare_vtab() to configure
   ** the r-tree table schema.
   */