diff --git a/server/openejb-client/src/main/java/org/apache/openejb/client/JNDIContext.java b/server/openejb-client/src/main/java/org/apache/openejb/client/JNDIContext.java
index 0d5884c952d..5a5e8ba69c8 100644
--- a/server/openejb-client/src/main/java/org/apache/openejb/client/JNDIContext.java
+++ b/server/openejb-client/src/main/java/org/apache/openejb/client/JNDIContext.java
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ public void authenticate(final String userID, final String psswrd) throws Authen
         try {
             res = requestAuthorization(req);
         } catch (RemoteException e) {
-            throw new AuthenticationException(e.getLocalizedMessage());
+            throw (AuthenticationException) new AuthenticationException(e.getLocalizedMessage()).initCause(e);
         }
 
         switch (res.getResponseCode()) {