diff --git a/src/cargo/util/into_url.rs b/src/cargo/util/into_url.rs
index 26f365ee8..fa48cc31f 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/into_url.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/into_url.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,18 @@ pub trait IntoUrl {
 
 impl<'a> IntoUrl for &'a str {
     fn into_url(self) -> CargoResult<Url> {
-        Url::parse(self).map_err(|s| anyhow::format_err!("invalid url `{}`: {}", self, s))
+        Url::parse(self).map_err(|s| {
+            if self.starts_with("git@") {
+                anyhow::format_err!(
+                    "invalid url `{}`: {}; try using `{}` instead",
+                    self,
+                    s,
+                    format_args!("ssh://{}", self.replacen(':', "/", 1))
+                )
+            } else {
+                anyhow::format_err!("invalid url `{}`: {}", self, s)
+            }
+        })
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/git.rs b/tests/testsuite/git.rs
index c63d355c4..8d00ecf18 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/git.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/git.rs
@@ -528,6 +528,7 @@ this is dep1 this is dep2
 #[cargo_test]
 fn cargo_compile_with_short_ssh_git() {
     let url = "git@github.com:a/dep";
+    let well_formed_url = "ssh://git@github.com/a/dep";
 
     let p = project()
         .file(
@@ -565,9 +566,9 @@ fn cargo_compile_with_short_ssh_git() {
 [ERROR] failed to parse manifest at `[ROOT]/foo/Cargo.toml`
 
 Caused by:
-  invalid url `{}`: relative URL without a base
+  invalid url `{}`: relative URL without a base; try using `{}` instead
 ",
-            url
+            url, well_formed_url
         ))
         .run();
 }