diff --git a/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh b/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
index b4c9c32a03..44a91205d6 100755
--- a/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
+++ b/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ test_expect_success 'fail when lock is taken' '
 	test_when_finished rm -rf repo/.git/info/sparse-checkout.lock &&
 	touch repo/.git/info/sparse-checkout.lock &&
 	test_must_fail git -C repo sparse-checkout set deep 2>err &&
-	test_i18ngrep "File exists" err
+	test_i18ngrep "Unable to create .*\.lock" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success '.gitignore should not warn about cone mode' '