1 files changed, 11 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/pkg_resources/__init__.py b/pkg_resources/__init__.py
index 97e08d68..1f170cfd 100644
--- a/pkg_resources/__init__.py
+++ b/pkg_resources/__init__.py
@@ -1416,8 +1416,17 @@ class NullProvider:
     def get_metadata(self, name):
         if not self.egg_info:
             return ""
-        value = self._get(self._fn(self.egg_info, name))
-        return value.decode('utf-8') if six.PY3 else value
+        path = self._get_metadata_path(name)
+        value = self._get(path)
+        if six.PY2:
+            return value
+        try:
+            return value.decode('utf-8')
+        except UnicodeDecodeError as exc:
+            # Include the path in the error message to simplify
+            # troubleshooting, and without changing the exception type.
+            exc.reason += ' in {} file at path: {}'.format(name, path)
+            raise
 
     def get_metadata_lines(self, name):
         return yield_lines(self.get_metadata(name))