diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index a5bb02b207..7f094f8170 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -880,7 +880,7 @@ static void check_clean_worktree(struct worktree *wt,
 			  original_path);
 	ret = xread(cp.out, buf, sizeof(buf));
 	if (ret)
-		die(_("'%s' is dirty, use --force to delete it"),
+		die(_("'%s' contains modified or untracked files, use --force to delete it"),
 		    original_path);
 	close(cp.out);
 	ret = finish_command(&cp);