diff --git a/pkg/specgen/container_validate.go b/pkg/specgen/container_validate.go
index df9c77cbc3..219abfd9bd 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/container_validate.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/container_validate.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (s *SpecGenerator) Validate() error {
 	}
 	// shmsize conflicts with IPC namespace
 	if s.ContainerStorageConfig.ShmSize != nil && !s.ContainerStorageConfig.IpcNS.IsPrivate() {
-		return errors.New("cannot set shmsize when creating an IPC namespace")
+		return errors.New("cannot set shmsize when running in the host IPC Namespace")
 	}
 
 	//