diff --git a/src/columns/Column.cpp b/src/columns/Column.cpp
index 01ed55472..666174cbc 100644
--- a/src/columns/Column.cpp
+++ b/src/columns/Column.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ Column* Column::factory (const std::string& name, const std::string& report)
   else if (column_name == "uuid")        column = new ColumnUUID ();
   else if (column_name == "wait")        column = new ColumnWait ();
   else
-    throw std::string ("Unrecognized column type '") + column_name + "'";
+    throw std::string ("Unrecognized column name '") + column_name + "'";
 
   column->setReport (report);
   column->setStyle (column_style);
diff --git a/test/custom.columns.t b/test/custom.columns.t
index b075ee1d1..223030745 100755
--- a/test/custom.columns.t
+++ b/test/custom.columns.t
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ if (open my $fh, '>', 'custom.rc')
 
 # Generate the usage screen, and locate the custom report on it.
 my $output = qx{../src/task rc:custom.rc foo 2>&1};
-like ($output, qr/Unrecognized column name: foo\.\n/, 'custom report spotted invalid column');
+like ($output, qr/Unrecognized column name 'foo'\.\n/, 'custom report spotted invalid column');
 
 # Cleanup.
 unlink 'pending.data';