diff --git a/examples/Cargo.toml b/examples/Cargo.toml
index 061bc877a3..7716c2169d 100644
--- a/examples/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/Cargo.toml
@@ -55,3 +55,7 @@ tempdir = "0.3.7"
 # opentelemetry example
 opentelemetry = { version = "0.15", default-features = false, features = ["trace"] }
 opentelemetry-jaeger = "0.14"
+
+# fmt examples
+snafu = "0.6.10"
+thiserror = "1.0.26"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/examples/fmt/yak_shave.rs b/examples/examples/fmt/yak_shave.rs
index 2e3a2c478f..9f6eb477b3 100644
--- a/examples/examples/fmt/yak_shave.rs
+++ b/examples/examples/fmt/yak_shave.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-use std::{error::Error, io};
+use snafu::{ResultExt, Snafu};
+use std::error::Error;
+use thiserror::Error;
 use tracing::{debug, error, info, span, trace, warn, Level};
 
 // the `#[tracing::instrument]` attribute creates and enters a span
@@ -14,10 +16,11 @@ pub fn shave(yak: usize) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error + 'static>> {
     trace!(excitement = "yay!", "hello! I'm gonna shave a yak");
     if yak == 3 {
         warn!("could not locate yak");
-        // note that this is intended to demonstrate `tracing`'s features, not idiomatic
-        // error handling! in a library or application, you should consider returning
-        // a dedicated `YakError`. libraries like snafu or thiserror make this easy.
-        return Err(io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, "missing yak").into());
+        return OutOfCash
+            .fail()
+            .map_err(|source| MissingYakError::OutOfSpace { source })
+            .context(MissingYak)
+            .map_err(|err| err.into());
     } else {
         trace!("yak shaved successfully");
     }
@@ -54,3 +57,23 @@ pub fn shave_all(yaks: usize) -> usize {
 
     yaks_shaved
 }
+
+// Error types
+// Usually you would pick one error handling library to use, but they can be mixed freely
+#[derive(Debug, Snafu)]
+enum OutOfSpaceError {
+    #[snafu(display("out of cash"))]
+    OutOfCash,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+enum MissingYakError {
+    #[error("out of space")]
+    OutOfSpace { source: OutOfSpaceError },
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Snafu)]
+enum YakError {
+    #[snafu(display("missing yak"))]
+    MissingYak { source: MissingYakError },
+}
diff --git a/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/mod.rs b/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/mod.rs
index 7db55c7a22..4153c8d263 100644
--- a/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/mod.rs
+++ b/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/mod.rs
@@ -761,7 +761,10 @@ impl<'a> field::Visit for DefaultVisitor<'a> {
 
     fn record_error(&mut self, field: &Field, value: &(dyn std::error::Error + 'static)) {
         if let Some(source) = value.source() {
-            self.record_debug(field, &format_args!("{}, {}: {}", value, field, source))
+            self.record_debug(
+                field,
+                &format_args!("{} {}.sources={}", value, field, ErrorSourceList(source)),
+            )
         } else {
             self.record_debug(field, &format_args!("{}", value))
         }
@@ -806,6 +809,21 @@ impl<'a> fmt::Debug for DefaultVisitor<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+/// Renders an error into a list of sources, *including* the error
+struct ErrorSourceList<'a>(&'a (dyn std::error::Error + 'static));
+
+impl<'a> Display for ErrorSourceList<'a> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        let mut list = f.debug_list();
+        let mut curr = Some(self.0);
+        while let Some(curr_err) = curr {
+            list.entry(&format_args!("{}", curr_err));
+            curr = curr_err.source();
+        }
+        list.finish()
+    }
+}
+
 struct FmtCtx<'a, S, N> {
     ctx: &'a FmtContext<'a, S, N>,
     span: Option<&'a span::Id>,
diff --git a/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/pretty.rs b/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/pretty.rs
index 28604c1052..b0f448fbc8 100644
--- a/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/pretty.rs
+++ b/tracing-subscriber/src/fmt/format/pretty.rs
@@ -332,12 +332,12 @@ impl<'a> field::Visit for PrettyVisitor<'a> {
             self.record_debug(
                 field,
                 &format_args!(
-                    "{}, {}{}.source{}: {}",
+                    "{}, {}{}.sources{}: {}",
                     value,
                     bold.prefix(),
                     field,
                     bold.infix(self.style),
-                    source,
+                    ErrorSourceList(source),
                 ),
             )
         } else {