diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
index 4443cdf251..a208983805 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ public final class PrettyPrintingUtil {
         } else if (node instanceof ASTVariableId) {
             return ((ASTVariableId) node).getName();
         } else {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Node " + node + " has no defined name");
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Node has no defined name: " + node);
         }
     }