diff --git a/drivers/of/overlay.c b/drivers/of/overlay.c
index f5fce0fea40b8b8e1c68f243b0676f2bacd55a57..c150abb9049d776d48c4ef5d38b821dcea09cef7 100644
--- a/drivers/of/overlay.c
+++ b/drivers/of/overlay.c
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ static int init_overlay_changeset(struct overlay_changeset *ovcs,
 		fragment->target = of_find_node_by_path("/__symbols__");
 
 		if (!fragment->target) {
-			pr_err("no symbols in root of device tree.\n");
+			pr_err("symbols in overlay, but not in live tree\n");
 			ret = -EINVAL;
 			goto err_free_fragments;
 		}