diff --git a/src/Composer/Util/GitLab.php b/src/Composer/Util/GitLab.php
index 7a69ad251..b3cb421ca 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Util/GitLab.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Util/GitLab.php
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ class GitLab
         }
 
         $this->io->writeError(sprintf('A token will be created and stored in "%s", your password will never be stored', $this->config->getAuthConfigSource()->getName()));
-        $this->io->writeError('To revoke access to this token you can visit '.$originUrl.'/profile/applications');
+        $this->io->writeError('To revoke access to this token you can visit '.$scheme.'://'.$originUrl.'/profile/applications');
 
         $attemptCounter = 0;
 
@@ -116,12 +116,17 @@ class GitLab
                 // 403 is max login attempts exceeded
                 if (in_array($e->getCode(), array(403, 401))) {
                     if (401 === $e->getCode()) {
-                        $this->io->writeError('Bad credentials.');
+                        $response = json_decode($e->getResponse(), true);
+                        if (isset($response['error']) && $response['error'] === 'invalid_grant') {
+                            $this->io->writeError('Bad credentials. If you have two factor authentication enabled you will have to manually create a personal access token');
+                        } else {
+                            $this->io->writeError('Bad credentials.');
+                        }
                     } else {
                         $this->io->writeError('Maximum number of login attempts exceeded. Please try again later.');
                     }
 
-                    $this->io->writeError('You can also manually create a personal token at '.$scheme.'://'.$originUrl.'/profile/personal_access_tokens');
+                    $this->io->writeError('You can also manually create a personal access token enabling the "read_api" scope at '.$scheme.'://'.$originUrl.'/profile/personal_access_tokens');
                     $this->io->writeError('Add it using "composer config --global --auth gitlab-token.'.$originUrl.' <token>"');
 
                     continue;