diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
index 10d68d4de1..2b8348b7c9 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
@@ -644,7 +644,11 @@ class TemplateParseVisitor implements html.Visitor {
   private _assertOnlyOneComponent(directives: DirectiveAst[], sourceSpan: ParseSourceSpan) {
     const componentTypeNames = this._findComponentDirectiveNames(directives);
     if (componentTypeNames.length > 1) {
-      this._reportError(`More than one component: ${componentTypeNames.join(',')}`, sourceSpan);
+      this._reportError(
+          `More than one component matched on this element.\n` +
+              `Make sure that only one component's selector can match a given element.\n` +
+              `Conflicting components: ${componentTypeNames.join(',')}`,
+          sourceSpan);
     }
   }
 
@@ -831,4 +835,4 @@ const NON_BINDABLE_VISITOR = new NonBindableVisitor();
 
 function _isEmptyTextNode(node: html.Node): boolean {
   return node instanceof html.Text && node.value.trim().length == 0;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/template_parser/template_parser_spec.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/template_parser/template_parser_spec.ts
index 6b32b3c154..8cb15dee05 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/template_parser/template_parser_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/template_parser/template_parser_spec.ts
@@ -1495,8 +1495,12 @@ Parser Error: Unexpected token 'b' at column 3 in [a b] in TestComp@0:5 ("<div [
                   {moduleUrl: someModuleUrl, name: 'DirB', reference: {} as Type<any>}),
               template: new CompileTemplateMetadata({ngContentSelectors: []})
             });
-            expect(() => parse('<div>', [dirB, dirA])).toThrowError(`Template parse errors:
-More than one component: DirB,DirA ("[ERROR ->]<div>"): TestComp@0:0`);
+            expect(() => parse('<div>', [dirB, dirA]))
+                .toThrowError(
+                    `Template parse errors:\n` +
+                    `More than one component matched on this element.\n` +
+                    `Make sure that only one component's selector can match a given element.\n` +
+                    `Conflicting components: DirB,DirA ("[ERROR ->]<div>"): TestComp@0:0`);
           });
 
           it('should not allow components or element bindings nor dom events on explicit embedded templates',