diff --git a/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/ConnectSchema.java b/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/ConnectSchema.java
index d1fd9cdaa7aa6..e052534a7a955 100644
--- a/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/ConnectSchema.java
+++ b/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/ConnectSchema.java
@@ -207,9 +207,14 @@ public Schema valueSchema() {
      * @param value value to test
      */
     public static void validateValue(Schema schema, Object value) {
+        validateValue(null, schema, value);
+    }
+
+    public static void validateValue(String name, Schema schema, Object value) {
         if (value == null) {
             if (!schema.isOptional())
-                throw new DataException("Invalid value: null used for required field");
+                throw new DataException("Invalid value: null used for required field: \"" + name
+                        + "\", schema type: " + schema.type());
             else
                 return;
         }
@@ -220,7 +225,9 @@ public static void validateValue(Schema schema, Object value) {
                 expectedClasses = SCHEMA_TYPE_CLASSES.get(schema.type());
 
         if (expectedClasses == null)
-            throw new DataException("Invalid Java object for schema type " + schema.type() + ": " + value.getClass());
+            throw new DataException("Invalid Java object for schema type " + schema.type()
+                    + ": " + value.getClass()
+                    + " for field: \"" + name + "\"");
 
         boolean foundMatch = false;
         for (Class<?> expectedClass : expectedClasses) {
@@ -230,7 +237,9 @@ public static void validateValue(Schema schema, Object value) {
             }
         }
         if (!foundMatch)
-            throw new DataException("Invalid Java object for schema type " + schema.type() + ": " + value.getClass());
+            throw new DataException("Invalid Java object for schema type " + schema.type()
+                    + ": " + value.getClass()
+                    + " for field: \"" + name + "\"");
 
         switch (schema.type()) {
             case STRUCT:
diff --git a/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/Struct.java b/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/Struct.java
index 698c6ee8cb895..200a1c00a9df5 100644
--- a/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/Struct.java
+++ b/connect/api/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/Struct.java
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ public void validate() {
             Object value = values[field.index()];
             if (value == null && (fieldSchema.isOptional() || fieldSchema.defaultValue() != null))
                 continue;
-            ConnectSchema.validateValue(fieldSchema, value);
+            ConnectSchema.validateValue(field.name(), fieldSchema, value);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/FakeSchema.java b/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/FakeSchema.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ff2e24f6a2b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/FakeSchema.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ **/
+
+package org.apache.kafka.connect.data;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+public class FakeSchema implements Schema {
+    @Override
+    public Type type() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isOptional() {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Object defaultValue() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String name() {
+        return "fake";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Integer version() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String doc() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Map<String, String> parameters() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Schema keySchema() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Schema valueSchema() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<Field> fields() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Field field(String fieldName) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Schema schema() {
+        return null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/StructTest.java b/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/StructTest.java
index 11c9fb08fc3b0..82f6d89a90f68 100644
--- a/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/StructTest.java
+++ b/connect/api/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/data/StructTest.java
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@
 package org.apache.kafka.connect.data;
 
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.errors.DataException;
+import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -234,4 +236,35 @@ public void testEquals() {
         assertEquals(struct1, struct2);
         assertNotEquals(struct1, struct3);
     }
+
+    @Rule
+    public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
+
+    @Test
+    public void testValidateStructWithNullValue() {
+        Schema schema = SchemaBuilder.struct()
+                .field("one", Schema.STRING_SCHEMA)
+                .field("two", Schema.STRING_SCHEMA)
+                .field("three", Schema.STRING_SCHEMA)
+                .build();
+
+        Struct struct = new Struct(schema);
+        thrown.expect(DataException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Invalid value: null used for required field: \"one\", schema type: STRING");
+        struct.validate();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testValidateFieldWithInvalidValueType() {
+        String fieldName = "field";
+        FakeSchema fakeSchema = new FakeSchema();
+
+        thrown.expect(DataException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Invalid Java object for schema type null: class java.lang.Object for field: \"field\"");
+        ConnectSchema.validateValue(fieldName, fakeSchema, new Object());
+
+        thrown.expect(DataException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Invalid Java object for schema type INT8: class java.lang.Object for field: \"field\"");
+        ConnectSchema.validateValue(fieldName, Schema.INT8_SCHEMA, new Object());
+    }
 }