diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_subscription.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_subscription.sgml
index 8d997c983f..4be6ddb873 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_subscription.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/drop_subscription.sgml
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ DROP SUBSCRIPTION [ IF EXISTS ] <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable
    either because the remote host is not reachable or because the remote
    replication slot cannot be dropped or does not exist or never existed,
    the <command>DROP SUBSCRIPTION</command> command will fail.  To proceed in
-   this situation, disassociate the subscription from the replication slot by
-   executing <literal>ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... SET (slot_name = NONE)</literal>.
+   this situation, first <literal>DISABLE</literal> the subscription, and then 
+   disassociate it from the replication slot by executing 
+   <literal>ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... SET (slot_name = NONE)</literal>. 
    After that, <command>DROP SUBSCRIPTION</command> will no longer attempt any
    actions on a remote host.  Note that if the remote replication slot still
    exists, it (and any related table synchronization slots) should then be
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/subscriptioncmds.c b/src/backend/commands/subscriptioncmds.c
index e8b288d01c..c0373e5fad 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/subscriptioncmds.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/subscriptioncmds.c
@@ -2185,7 +2185,7 @@ ReportSlotConnectionError(List *rstates, Oid subid, char *slotname, char *err)
 			 errmsg("could not connect to publisher when attempting to drop replication slot \"%s\": %s",
 					slotname, err),
 	/* translator: %s is an SQL ALTER command */
-			 errhint("Use %s to disassociate the subscription from the slot.",
+			 errhint("Disable the subscription, then use %s to disassociate it from the slot.",
 					 "ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... SET (slot_name = NONE)")));
 }