diff --git a/include/linux/bootconfig.h b/include/linux/bootconfig.h
index d11e183fcb54..9903088891fa 100644
--- a/include/linux/bootconfig.h
+++ b/include/linux/bootconfig.h
@@ -216,7 +216,8 @@ static inline int __init xbc_node_compose_key(struct xbc_node *node,
 }
 
 /* XBC node initializer */
-int __init xbc_init(char *buf);
+int __init xbc_init(char *buf, const char **emsg, int *epos);
+
 
 /* XBC cleanup data structures */
 void __init xbc_destroy_all(void);
diff --git a/init/main.c b/init/main.c
index ee4947af823f..e488213857e2 100644
--- a/init/main.c
+++ b/init/main.c
@@ -353,6 +353,8 @@ static int __init bootconfig_params(char *param, char *val,
 static void __init setup_boot_config(const char *cmdline)
 {
 	static char tmp_cmdline[COMMAND_LINE_SIZE] __initdata;
+	const char *msg;
+	int pos;
 	u32 size, csum;
 	char *data, *copy;
 	u32 *hdr;
@@ -400,10 +402,14 @@ static void __init setup_boot_config(const char *cmdline)
 	memcpy(copy, data, size);
 	copy[size] = '\0';
 
-	ret = xbc_init(copy);
-	if (ret < 0)
-		pr_err("Failed to parse bootconfig\n");
-	else {
+	ret = xbc_init(copy, &msg, &pos);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		if (pos < 0)
+			pr_err("Failed to init bootconfig: %s.\n", msg);
+		else
+			pr_err("Failed to parse bootconfig: %s at %d.\n",
+				msg, pos);
+	} else {
 		pr_info("Load bootconfig: %d bytes %d nodes\n", size, ret);
 		/* keys starting with "kernel." are passed via cmdline */
 		extra_command_line = xbc_make_cmdline("kernel");
diff --git a/lib/bootconfig.c b/lib/bootconfig.c
index ec3ce7fd299f..912ef4921398 100644
--- a/lib/bootconfig.c
+++ b/lib/bootconfig.c
@@ -29,12 +29,14 @@ static int xbc_node_num __initdata;
 static char *xbc_data __initdata;
 static size_t xbc_data_size __initdata;
 static struct xbc_node *last_parent __initdata;
+static const char *xbc_err_msg __initdata;
+static int xbc_err_pos __initdata;
 
 static int __init xbc_parse_error(const char *msg, const char *p)
 {
-	int pos = p - xbc_data;
+	xbc_err_msg = msg;
+	xbc_err_pos = (int)(p - xbc_data);
 
-	pr_err("Parse error at pos %d: %s\n", pos, msg);
 	return -EINVAL;
 }
 
@@ -738,33 +740,44 @@ void __init xbc_destroy_all(void)
 /**
  * xbc_init() - Parse given XBC file and build XBC internal tree
  * @buf: boot config text
+ * @emsg: A pointer of const char * to store the error message
+ * @epos: A pointer of int to store the error position
  *
  * This parses the boot config text in @buf. @buf must be a
  * null terminated string and smaller than XBC_DATA_MAX.
  * Return the number of stored nodes (>0) if succeeded, or -errno
  * if there is any error.
+ * In error cases, @emsg will be updated with an error message and
+ * @epos will be updated with the error position which is the byte offset
+ * of @buf. If the error is not a parser error, @epos will be -1.
  */
-int __init xbc_init(char *buf)
+int __init xbc_init(char *buf, const char **emsg, int *epos)
 {
 	char *p, *q;
 	int ret, c;
 
+	if (epos)
+		*epos = -1;
+
 	if (xbc_data) {
-		pr_err("Error: bootconfig is already initialized.\n");
+		if (emsg)
+			*emsg = "Bootconfig is already initialized";
 		return -EBUSY;
 	}
 
 	ret = strlen(buf);
 	if (ret > XBC_DATA_MAX - 1 || ret == 0) {
-		pr_err("Error: Config data is %s.\n",
-			ret ? "too big" : "empty");
+		if (emsg)
+			*emsg = ret ? "Config data is too big" :
+				"Config data is empty";
 		return -ERANGE;
 	}
 
 	xbc_nodes = memblock_alloc(sizeof(struct xbc_node) * XBC_NODE_MAX,
 				   SMP_CACHE_BYTES);
 	if (!xbc_nodes) {
-		pr_err("Failed to allocate memory for bootconfig nodes.\n");
+		if (emsg)
+			*emsg = "Failed to allocate bootconfig nodes";
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 	memset(xbc_nodes, 0, sizeof(struct xbc_node) * XBC_NODE_MAX);
@@ -814,9 +827,13 @@ int __init xbc_init(char *buf)
 	if (!ret)
 		ret = xbc_verify_tree();
 
-	if (ret < 0)
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		if (epos)
+			*epos = xbc_err_pos;
+		if (emsg)
+			*emsg = xbc_err_msg;
 		xbc_destroy_all();
-	else
+	} else
 		ret = xbc_node_num;
 
 	return ret;
diff --git a/tools/bootconfig/main.c b/tools/bootconfig/main.c
index a9b97814d1a9..16b9a420e6fd 100644
--- a/tools/bootconfig/main.c
+++ b/tools/bootconfig/main.c
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ int load_xbc_from_initrd(int fd, char **buf)
 	int ret;
 	u32 size = 0, csum = 0, rcsum;
 	char magic[BOOTCONFIG_MAGIC_LEN];
+	const char *msg;
 
 	ret = fstat(fd, &stat);
 	if (ret < 0)
@@ -182,10 +183,12 @@ int load_xbc_from_initrd(int fd, char **buf)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	ret = xbc_init(*buf);
+	ret = xbc_init(*buf, &msg, NULL);
 	/* Wrong data */
-	if (ret < 0)
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		pr_err("parse error: %s.\n", msg);
 		return ret;
+	}
 
 	return size;
 }
@@ -244,11 +247,34 @@ int delete_xbc(const char *path)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static void show_xbc_error(const char *data, const char *msg, int pos)
+{
+	int lin = 1, col, i;
+
+	if (pos < 0) {
+		pr_err("Error: %s.\n", msg);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/* Note that pos starts from 0 but lin and col should start from 1. */
+	col = pos + 1;
+	for (i = 0; i < pos; i++) {
+		if (data[i] == '\n') {
+			lin++;
+			col = pos - i;
+		}
+	}
+	pr_err("Parse Error: %s at %d:%d\n", msg, lin, col);
+
+}
+
 int apply_xbc(const char *path, const char *xbc_path)
 {
 	u32 size, csum;
 	char *buf, *data;
 	int ret, fd;
+	const char *msg;
+	int pos;
 
 	ret = load_xbc_file(xbc_path, &buf);
 	if (ret < 0) {
@@ -267,11 +293,12 @@ int apply_xbc(const char *path, const char *xbc_path)
 	*(u32 *)(data + size + 4) = csum;
 
 	/* Check the data format */
-	ret = xbc_init(buf);
+	ret = xbc_init(buf, &msg, &pos);
 	if (ret < 0) {
-		pr_err("Failed to parse %s: %d\n", xbc_path, ret);
+		show_xbc_error(data, msg, pos);
 		free(data);
 		free(buf);
+
 		return ret;
 	}
 	printf("Apply %s to %s\n", xbc_path, path);