diff --git a/contrib/pg_archivecleanup/pg_archivecleanup.c b/contrib/pg_archivecleanup/pg_archivecleanup.c
index dd8a45133c89c6bafc0c25f9604f2f3b297890b0..400968ce399c82c318b3ff78c5c47991c8c0c3d1 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_archivecleanup/pg_archivecleanup.c
+++ b/contrib/pg_archivecleanup/pg_archivecleanup.c
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ Initialize(void)
 	if (stat(archiveLocation, &stat_buf) != 0 ||
 		!S_ISDIR(stat_buf.st_mode))
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: archiveLocation \"%s\" does not exist\n",
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: archive location \"%s\" does not exist\n",
 				progname, archiveLocation);
 		exit(2);
 	}
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ CleanupPriorWALFiles(void)
 		closedir(xldir);
 	}
 	else
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: could not open archiveLocation \"%s\": %s\n",
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: could not open archive location \"%s\": %s\n",
 				progname, archiveLocation, strerror(errno));
 }
 
diff --git a/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c b/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
index d2e0d582f279f2ab806f2a87d7d9facb28e67dea..0aa05344b9dd948e81ad3ab5d417ad82cf7332f0 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
+++ b/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ CustomizableInitialize(void)
 	 */
 	if (stat(archiveLocation, &stat_buf) != 0)
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: archiveLocation \"%s\" does not exist\n", progname, archiveLocation);
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: archive location \"%s\" does not exist\n", progname, archiveLocation);
 		fflush(stderr);
 		exit(2);
 	}
@@ -283,12 +283,12 @@ CustomizableCleanupPriorWALFiles(void)
 #endif
 
 					if (debug)
-						fprintf(stderr, "\nremoving \"%s\"", WALFilePath);
+						fprintf(stderr, "\nremoving file \"%s\"", WALFilePath);
 
 					rc = unlink(WALFilePath);
 					if (rc != 0)
 					{
-						fprintf(stderr, "\n%s: ERROR failed to remove \"%s\": %s",
+						fprintf(stderr, "\n%s: ERROR: could not remove file \"%s\": %s\n",
 								progname, WALFilePath, strerror(errno));
 						break;
 					}
@@ -298,7 +298,8 @@ CustomizableCleanupPriorWALFiles(void)
 				fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 		}
 		else
-			fprintf(stderr, "%s: archiveLocation \"%s\" open error\n", progname, archiveLocation);
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s: could not open archive location \"%s\": %s\n",
+					progname, archiveLocation, strerror(errno));
 
 		closedir(xldir);
 		fflush(stderr);
@@ -693,7 +694,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: use %%f to specify nextWALFileName\n", progname);
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: must specify WAL file name as second non-option argument (use \"%%f\")\n", progname);
 		fprintf(stderr, "Try \"%s --help\" for more information.\n", progname);
 		exit(2);
 	}
@@ -705,7 +706,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: use %%p to specify xlogFilePath\n", progname);
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s: must specify xlog destination as third non-option argument (use \"%%p\")\n", progname);
 		fprintf(stderr, "Try \"%s --help\" for more information.\n", progname);
 		exit(2);
 	}