diff --git a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/security/DefaultConfidentialStore.java b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/security/DefaultConfidentialStore.java
index 88eb84fc1cce377857ec48937cbb78c6e423ed2d..989769b32ac3d97530849943ec19927c44196336 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/security/DefaultConfidentialStore.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/security/DefaultConfidentialStore.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public class DefaultConfidentialStore extends ConfidentialStore {
             byte[] bytes = IOUtils.toByteArray(cis);
             return verifyMagic(bytes);
         } catch (GeneralSecurityException e) {
-            throw new IOException("Failed to persist the key: "+key.getId(),e);
+            throw new IOException("Failed to load the key: "+key.getId(),e);
         } finally {
             IOUtils.closeQuietly(cis);
             IOUtils.closeQuietly(fis);