diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/tests/test_utils.py b/python/pyspark/sql/tests/test_utils.py
index fdadd5631c..072ea08085 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
 #
 # Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
 # contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
@@ -26,6 +27,12 @@ class UtilsTests(ReusedSQLTestCase):
         self.assertRaises(AnalysisException, lambda: self.spark.sql("select abc"))
         self.assertRaises(AnalysisException, lambda: self.df.selectExpr("a + b"))
 
+    def test_capture_user_friendly_exception(self):
+        try:
+            self.spark.sql("select `中文字段`")
+        except AnalysisException as e:
+            self.assertRegexpMatches(str(e), "cannot resolve '`中文字段`'")
+
     def test_capture_parse_exception(self):
         self.assertRaises(ParseException, lambda: self.spark.sql("abc"))
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/utils.py b/python/pyspark/sql/utils.py
index c30cc14827..996b7dd59c 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/utils.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/utils.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #
 
 import py4j
+import sys
 
 
 class CapturedException(Exception):
@@ -25,7 +26,12 @@ class CapturedException(Exception):
         self.cause = convert_exception(cause) if cause is not None else None
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return repr(self.desc)
+        desc = self.desc
+        # encode unicode instance for python2 for human readable description
+        if sys.version_info.major < 3 and isinstance(desc, unicode):
+            return str(desc.encode('utf-8'))
+        else:
+            return str(desc)
 
 
 class AnalysisException(CapturedException):