diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
index 86225eaa4c..b7e1e4be19 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
@@ -987,7 +987,7 @@ check_for_jsonb_9_4_usage(ClusterInfo *cluster)
 	bool		found = false;
 	char		output_path[MAXPGPATH];
 
-	prep_status("Checking for incompatible jsonb data type");
+	prep_status("Checking for incompatible \"jsonb\" data type");
 
 	snprintf(output_path, sizeof(output_path), "tables_using_jsonb.txt");
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
index cb8e29b17c..1cf64e1a45 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ get_bin_version(ClusterInfo *cluster)
 		*strchr(cmd_output, '\n') = '\0';
 
 	if (sscanf(cmd_output, "%*s %*s %d.%d", &pre_dot, &post_dot) < 1)
-		pg_fatal("could not get version from %s\n", cmd);
+		pg_fatal("could not get pg_ctl version output from %s\n", cmd);
 
 	cluster->bin_version = (pre_dot * 100 + post_dot) * 100;
 }
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ exec_prog(const char *log_file, const char *opt_log_file,
 #endif
 
 	if (log == NULL)
-		pg_fatal("cannot write to log file %s\n", log_file);
+		pg_fatal("could not write to log file \"%s\"\n", log_file);
 
 #ifdef WIN32
 	/* Are we printing "command:" before its output? */
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ exec_prog(const char *log_file, const char *opt_log_file,
 	 * log these commands to a third file, but that just adds complexity.
 	 */
 	if ((log = fopen(log_file, "a")) == NULL)
-		pg_fatal("cannot write to log file %s\n", log_file);
+		pg_fatal("could not write to log file \"%s\"\n", log_file);
 	fprintf(log, "\n\n");
 	fclose(log);
 #endif
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ validate_exec(const char *dir, const char *cmdName)
 		pg_fatal("check for \"%s\" failed: %s\n",
 				 path, strerror(errno));
 	else if (!S_ISREG(buf.st_mode))
-		pg_fatal("check for \"%s\" failed: not an executable file\n",
+		pg_fatal("check for \"%s\" failed: not a regular file\n",
 				 path);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/file.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/file.c
index eb925d1e0f..ae8d89fb66 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/file.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/file.c
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ check_hard_link(void)
 
 	if (pg_link_file(existing_file, new_link_file) < 0)
 		pg_fatal("could not create hard link between old and new data directories: %s\n"
-				 "In link mode the old and new data directories must be on the same file system volume.\n",
+				 "In link mode the old and new data directories must be on the same file system.\n",
 				 strerror(errno));
 
 	unlink(new_link_file);
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
index bbe364741c..c74eb25e18 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ parseCommandLine(int argc, char *argv[])
 		pg_fatal("%s: cannot be run as root\n", os_info.progname);
 
 	if ((log_opts.internal = fopen_priv(INTERNAL_LOG_FILE, "a")) == NULL)
-		pg_fatal("cannot write to log file %s\n", INTERNAL_LOG_FILE);
+		pg_fatal("could not write to log file \"%s\"\n", INTERNAL_LOG_FILE);
 
 	while ((option = getopt_long(argc, argv, "d:D:b:B:cj:ko:O:p:P:rU:v",
 								 long_options, &optindex)) != -1)
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ parseCommandLine(int argc, char *argv[])
 	for (filename = output_files; *filename != NULL; filename++)
 	{
 		if ((fp = fopen_priv(*filename, "a")) == NULL)
-			pg_fatal("cannot write to log file %s\n", *filename);
+			pg_fatal("could not write to log file \"%s\"\n", *filename);
 
 		/* Start with newline because we might be appending to a file. */
 		fprintf(fp, "\n"
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ parseCommandLine(int argc, char *argv[])
 		canonicalize_path(new_cluster_pgdata);
 
 		if (!getcwd(cwd, MAXPGPATH))
-			pg_fatal("cannot find current directory\n");
+			pg_fatal("could not determine current directory\n");
 		canonicalize_path(cwd);
 		if (path_is_prefix_of_path(new_cluster_pgdata, cwd))
 			pg_fatal("cannot run pg_upgrade from inside the new cluster data directory on Windows\n");
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ get_sock_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool live_check)
 			/* Use the current directory for the socket */
 			cluster->sockdir = pg_malloc(MAXPGPATH);
 			if (!getcwd(cluster->sockdir, MAXPGPATH))
-				pg_fatal("cannot find current directory\n");
+				pg_fatal("could not determine current directory\n");
 		}
 		else
 		{
@@ -477,14 +477,16 @@ get_sock_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool live_check)
 			snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/postmaster.pid",
 					 cluster->pgdata);
 			if ((fp = fopen(filename, "r")) == NULL)
-				pg_fatal("Cannot open file %s: %m\n", filename);
+				pg_fatal("could not open file \"%s\": %s\n",
+						 filename, strerror(errno));
 
 			for (lineno = 1;
 				 lineno <= Max(LOCK_FILE_LINE_PORT, LOCK_FILE_LINE_SOCKET_DIR);
 				 lineno++)
 			{
 				if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp) == NULL)
-					pg_fatal("Cannot read line %d from %s: %m\n", lineno, filename);
+					pg_fatal("could not read line %d from file \"%s\": %s\n",
+							 lineno, filename, strerror(errno));
 
 				/* potentially overwrite user-supplied value */
 				if (lineno == LOCK_FILE_LINE_PORT)
@@ -501,7 +503,7 @@ get_sock_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool live_check)
 
 			/* warn of port number correction */
 			if (orig_port != DEF_PGUPORT && old_cluster.port != orig_port)
-				pg_log(PG_WARNING, "User-supplied old port number %hu corrected to %hu\n",
+				pg_log(PG_WARNING, "user-supplied old port number %hu corrected to %hu\n",
 					   orig_port, cluster->port);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
index 2a68ce6efa..d44fefb457 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ prepare_new_cluster(void)
 	 * datfrozenxid, relfrozenxids, and relminmxid later to match the new xid
 	 * counter later.
 	 */
-	prep_status("Freezing all rows on the new cluster");
+	prep_status("Freezing all rows in the new cluster");
 	exec_prog(UTILITY_LOG_FILE, NULL, true,
 			  "\"%s/vacuumdb\" %s --all --freeze %s",
 			  new_cluster.bindir, cluster_conn_opts(&new_cluster),
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ copy_xact_xlog_xid(void)
 		 */
 		remove_new_subdir("pg_multixact/offsets", false);
 
-		prep_status("Setting oldest multixact ID on new cluster");
+		prep_status("Setting oldest multixact ID in new cluster");
 
 		/*
 		 * We don't preserve files in this case, but it's important that the
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/server.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/server.c
index 26e60fab46..3e3323a6e8 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/server.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/server.c
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ get_major_server_version(ClusterInfo *cluster)
 	if (fscanf(version_fd, "%63s", cluster->major_version_str) == 0 ||
 		sscanf(cluster->major_version_str, "%d.%d", &integer_version,
 			   &fractional_version) < 1)
-		pg_fatal("could not get version from %s\n", cluster->pgdata);
+		pg_fatal("could not parse PG_VERSION file from %s\n", cluster->pgdata);
 
 	fclose(version_fd);