diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index eeff4a77607..dc5dca453fb 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ What's New in Python 2.7.1?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #10221: dict.pop(k) now has a key error message that includes the
+  missing key (same message d[k] returns for missing keys).
+
 - Issue #10125: Don't segfault when the iterator passed to ``file.writelines()``
   closes the file.
 
diff --git a/Objects/dictobject.c b/Objects/dictobject.c
index def3da9af0e..3670e974ad0 100644
--- a/Objects/dictobject.c
+++ b/Objects/dictobject.c
@@ -1980,8 +1980,7 @@ dict_pop(PyDictObject *mp, PyObject *args)
             Py_INCREF(deflt);
             return deflt;
         }
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_KeyError,
-                        "pop(): dictionary is empty");
+        set_key_error(key);
         return NULL;
     }
     if (!PyString_CheckExact(key) ||