diff --git a/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/ssl/CertificateMessage.java b/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/ssl/CertificateMessage.java
index a933aaf4bd8..b43ea3835af 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/ssl/CertificateMessage.java
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/ssl/CertificateMessage.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2015, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ final class CertificateMessage {
                         ClientAuthType.CLIENT_AUTH_REQUESTED) {
                     // unexpected or require client authentication
                     throw shc.conContext.fatal(Alert.BAD_CERTIFICATE,
-                        "Empty server certificate chain");
+                        "Empty client certificate chain");
                 } else {
                     return;
                 }
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ final class CertificateMessage {
                 }
             } catch (CertificateException ce) {
                 throw shc.conContext.fatal(Alert.BAD_CERTIFICATE,
-                    "Failed to parse server certificates", ce);
+                    "Failed to parse client certificates", ce);
             }
 
             checkClientCerts(shc, x509Certs);
@@ -1224,7 +1224,7 @@ final class CertificateMessage {
                 }
             } catch (CertificateException ce) {
                 throw shc.conContext.fatal(Alert.BAD_CERTIFICATE,
-                    "Failed to parse server certificates", ce);
+                    "Failed to parse client certificates", ce);
             }
 
             // find out the types of client authentication used