diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
index 47c24d3e6..b0f7495f2 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
@@ -192,8 +192,11 @@ class Verifier
                     " characters");
             }
 
-            if (!mConfig.isAllowTabs() && (mLines[i].indexOf('\t') != -1)) {
-                log(i + 1, "line contains a tab character");
+            if (!mConfig.isAllowTabs()) {
+                final int tabPosition = mLines[i].indexOf('\t');
+                if (tabPosition != -1) {
+                    log(i + 1, tabPosition, "line contains a tab character");
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
index 316103527..3f44b7c7e 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ public class CheckerTest
             filepath + ":1: file length is 146 lines (max allowed is 20).",
             filepath + ":3: Line does not match expected header line of '// Created: 2001'.",
             filepath + ":18: line longer than 80 characters",
-            filepath + ":19: line contains a tab character",
+            filepath + ":19:25: line contains a tab character",
             filepath + ":25:29: variable 'badConstant' must match pattern '^[A-Z](_?[A-Z0-9]+)*$'.",
             filepath + ":30:24: variable 'badStatic' must match pattern '^s[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$'.",
             filepath + ":35:17: variable 'badMember' must match pattern '^m[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$'.",