diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer/json/json_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer/json/json_test.go
index 68858b97539..ee869206279 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer/json/json_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer/json/json_test.go
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ func TestDecode(t *testing.T) {
 
 		switch {
 		case err == nil && test.errFn != nil:
-			t.Errorf("%d: failed: %v", i, err)
+			t.Errorf("%d: failed: not getting the expected error", i)
 			continue
 		case err != nil && test.errFn == nil:
 			t.Errorf("%d: failed: %v", i, err)