diff --git a/cmd/failure.go b/cmd/failure.go
index a1bdf69..a5edc36 100644
--- a/cmd/failure.go
+++ b/cmd/failure.go
@@ -12,10 +12,17 @@ var failureCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "failure",
 	Short: "Signal the check has failed",
 	Long:  ``,
+	Args:  cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		check := parseCheckFlags()
+
+		msg := ""
+		if len(args) > 0 {
+			msg = args[0]
+		}
+
 		clt := gohealthchecks.NewPingClient(pingHost)
-		err := clt.ReportFailure(cmd.Context(), check)
+		err := clt.ReportFailure(cmd.Context(), check, msg)
 		if err != nil {
 			failf("Failed to notify failure: %s\n", err)
 		} else {
diff --git a/pingclient.go b/pingclient.go
index 13354f4..17395c3 100644
--- a/pingclient.go
+++ b/pingclient.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func addQueryParams(reqURL *url.URL, check Check) {
 type PingClient interface {
 	ReportSuccess(ctx context.Context, check Check) error
 	ReportStart(ctx context.Context, check Check) error
-	ReportFailure(ctx context.Context, check Check) error
+	ReportFailure(ctx context.Context, check Check, msg string) error
 	LogMessage(ctx context.Context, check Check, log []byte) error
 	ReportExitCode(ctx context.Context, check Check, exitCode int) error
 }
@@ -91,13 +91,18 @@ func (c *pingClient) ReportStart(ctx context.Context, check Check) error {
 	}
 	return handleResponse(resp)
 }
-func (c *pingClient) ReportFailure(ctx context.Context, check Check) error {
+func (c *pingClient) ReportFailure(ctx context.Context, check Check, msg string) error {
 	url, err := url.JoinPath(c.host, check.path(), "fail")
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid check or hostname provided: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, nil)
+	var body io.Reader
+	if msg != "" {
+		body = bytes.NewBufferString(msg + "\n")
+	}
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, body)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to build ping request: %w", err)
 	}