diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/tsquery.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/tsquery.c
index 092e8a130b..ee98c3f02f 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/tsquery.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/tsquery.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ parse_phrase_operator(TSQueryParserState pstate, int16 *distance)
 				else if (errno == ERANGE || l < 0 || l > MAXENTRYPOS)
 					ereport(ERROR,
 							(errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
-							 errmsg("distance in phrase operator should not be greater than %d",
+							 errmsg("distance in phrase operator must be an integer value between zero and %d inclusive",
 									MAXENTRYPOS)));
 				else
 				{