diff --git a/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c b/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c
index 91ca8df2ea..6a587de288 100644
--- a/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c
+++ b/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c
@@ -2840,7 +2840,7 @@ ProcessInterrupts(void)
 		if (ClientAuthInProgress)
 			ereport(FATAL,
 					(errcode(ERRCODE_QUERY_CANCELED),
-					 errmsg("canceling authentication due to timeout")));
+					 errmsg("canceling authentication due to administrator command")));
 		else if (IsAutoVacuumWorkerProcess())
 			ereport(FATAL,
 					(errcode(ERRCODE_ADMIN_SHUTDOWN),