diff --git a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/concrete.rs b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/concrete.rs
index 0fbfcca0cd..e690530f6e 100644
--- a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/concrete.rs
+++ b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/concrete.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ pub struct DispatcherFailed(Arc<str>);
 
 /// Wraps errors encountered in this module.
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
-#[error("{} {}.{}: {source}", backend.0.kind(), backend.0.name(), backend.0.namespace())]
+#[error("{}: {source}", backend.0)]
 pub struct BalanceError {
     backend: BackendRef,
     #[source]
diff --git a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route.rs b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route.rs
index 24224481a8..3ef64224cc 100644
--- a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route.rs
+++ b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,15 @@ pub(crate) type Grpc<T> = MatchedRoute<
 pub(crate) type BackendDistribution<T, F> = distribute::Distribution<Backend<T, F>>;
 pub(crate) type NewDistribute<T, F, N> = distribute::NewDistribute<Backend<T, F>, (), N>;
 
+/// Wraps errors with route metadata.
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+#[error("route {}: {source}", route.0)]
+struct RouteError {
+    route: RouteRef,
+    #[source]
+    source: Error,
+}
+
 // === impl MatchedRoute ===
 
 impl<T, M, F, E> MatchedRoute<T, M, F, E>
@@ -115,6 +124,15 @@ where
                 // Sets an optional request timeout.
                 .push(http::NewTimeout::layer())
                 .push(classify::NewClassify::layer())
+                .push(svc::NewMapErr::layer_with(|rt: &Self| {
+                    let route = rt.params.route_ref.clone();
+                    move |source| {
+                        Error::from(RouteError {
+                            route: route.clone(),
+                            source,
+                        })
+                    }
+                }))
                 .push(svc::ArcNewService::layer())
                 .into_inner()
         })
diff --git a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route/backend.rs b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route/backend.rs
index a0d335c000..5d0fb3b804 100644
--- a/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route/backend.rs
+++ b/linkerd/app/outbound/src/http/logical/policy/route/backend.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use super::{super::Concrete, filters};
-use crate::RouteRef;
+use crate::{BackendRef, RouteRef};
 use linkerd_app_core::{proxy::http, svc, Error, Result};
 use linkerd_http_route as http_route;
 use linkerd_proxy_client_policy as policy;
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ pub struct ExtractMetrics {
     metrics: RouteBackendMetrics,
 }
 
+/// Wraps errors with backend metadata.
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+#[error("backend {}: {source}", backend.0)]
+struct BackendError {
+    backend: BackendRef,
+    #[source]
+    source: Error,
+}
+
 // === impl Backend ===
 
 impl<T: Clone, F> Clone for Backend<T, F> {
@@ -110,6 +119,15 @@ where
                 .push(count_reqs::NewCountRequests::layer_via(ExtractMetrics {
                     metrics: metrics.clone(),
                 }))
+                .push(svc::NewMapErr::layer_with(|t: &Self| {
+                    let backend = t.params.concrete.backend_ref.clone();
+                    move |source| {
+                        Error::from(BackendError {
+                            backend: backend.clone(),
+                            source,
+                        })
+                    }
+                }))
                 .push(svc::ArcNewService::layer())
                 .into_inner()
         })
diff --git a/linkerd/proxy/client-policy/src/lib.rs b/linkerd/proxy/client-policy/src/lib.rs
index f525a041f0..92d942f241 100644
--- a/linkerd/proxy/client-policy/src/lib.rs
+++ b/linkerd/proxy/client-policy/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #![forbid(unsafe_code)]
 
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
-use std::{borrow::Cow, hash::Hash, net::SocketAddr, num::NonZeroU16, sync::Arc, time};
+use std::{borrow::Cow, fmt, hash::Hash, net::SocketAddr, num::NonZeroU16, sync::Arc, time};
 
 pub mod grpc;
 pub mod http;
@@ -264,6 +264,27 @@ impl std::hash::Hash for Meta {
     }
 }
 
+impl fmt::Display for Meta {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::Default { name } => write!(f, "default.{name}"),
+            Self::Resource {
+                kind,
+                name,
+                namespace,
+                port,
+                ..
+            } => {
+                write!(f, "{kind}.{namespace}.{name}")?;
+                if let Some(port) = port {
+                    write!(f, ":{port}")?
+                }
+                Ok(())
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 // === impl FailureAccrual ===
 
 impl Default for FailureAccrual {