diff --git a/src/dynamic_graph/entity.py b/src/dynamic_graph/entity.py
index 6c8e828d7885b5b3c1528b69af920fb4bc4ee9ea..552ca06eac45570bc293245de95f13594bcdc959 100644
--- a/src/dynamic_graph/entity.py
+++ b/src/dynamic_graph/entity.py
@@ -143,7 +143,15 @@ class Entity (object) :
         try:
             return self.signal(name)
         except:
-            object.__getattr__(self, name)
+            try:
+                object.__getattr__(self, name)
+            except AttributeError:
+                raise AttributeError('Entity named "%s" has no attribute %s\n'%
+                                     (self.name, name)+
+                                     '  entity attributes are usually either\n'+
+                                     '    - commands,\n'+
+                                     '    - signals or,\n'+
+                                     '    - user defined attributes')
 
     def __setattr__(self, name, value):
         if name in map(lambda s: s.getName().split(':')[-1],self.signals()):