diff --git a/builtin-grep.c b/builtin-grep.c
index 2da6bc61b66..45a23cfe643 100644
--- a/builtin-grep.c
+++ b/builtin-grep.c
@@ -971,7 +971,7 @@ int cmd_grep(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	if (0 <= opt_exclude)
-		die("--exclude or --no-exclude cannot be used for tracked contents.");
+		die("--[no-]exclude-standard cannot be used for tracked contents.");
 
 	if (!list.nr) {
 		int hit;