diff --git a/sentry_sdk/utils.py b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
index 475652c7bd..e5bc4e4df3 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/utils.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
@@ -681,6 +681,15 @@ def get_errno(exc_value):
     return getattr(exc_value, "errno", None)
 
 
+def get_error_message(exc_value):
+    # type: (Optional[BaseException]) -> str
+    return (
+        getattr(exc_value, "message", "")
+        or getattr(exc_value, "detail", "")
+        or safe_str(exc_value)
+    )
+
+
 def single_exception_from_error_tuple(
     exc_type,  # type: Optional[type]
     exc_value,  # type: Optional[BaseException]
@@ -734,7 +743,7 @@ def single_exception_from_error_tuple(
 
     exception_value["module"] = get_type_module(exc_type)
     exception_value["type"] = get_type_name(exc_type)
-    exception_value["value"] = getattr(exc_value, "message", safe_str(exc_value))
+    exception_value["value"] = get_error_message(exc_value)
 
     if client_options is None:
         include_local_variables = True
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 47460d39b0..1ce33c2223 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 
 from sentry_sdk.utils import (
     Components,
+    get_error_message,
     is_valid_sample_rate,
     logger,
     match_regex_list,
     parse_url,
     parse_version,
+    safe_str,
     sanitize_url,
     serialize_frame,
 )
@@ -423,3 +425,22 @@ def test_match_regex_list(item, regex_list, expected_result):
 )
 def test_parse_version(version, expected_result):
     assert parse_version(version) == expected_result
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "error,expected_result",
+    [
+        ["", lambda x: safe_str(x)],
+        ["some-string", lambda _: "some-string"],
+    ],
+)
+def test_get_error_message(error, expected_result):
+    with pytest.raises(BaseException) as exc_value:
+        exc_value.message = error
+        raise Exception
+    assert get_error_message(exc_value) == expected_result(exc_value)
+
+    with pytest.raises(BaseException) as exc_value:
+        exc_value.detail = error
+        raise Exception
+    assert get_error_message(exc_value) == expected_result(exc_value)