diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/validators/CommitMessageLengthValidation.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/validators/CommitMessageLengthValidation.java
index a7c0cad..a65372e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/validators/CommitMessageLengthValidation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/validators/CommitMessageLengthValidation.java
@@ -80,7 +80,9 @@
     if (this.maxSubjectLength < commit.getShortMessage().length()) {
       onLineTooLong(
           messages,
-          "subject >" + this.maxSubjectLength + " characters; use shorter first paragraph");
+          "subject longer than "
+              + this.maxSubjectLength
+              + " characters; use shorter first paragraph");
     }
 
     int longLineCnt = 0;