diff --git a/citeParserTests.txt b/citeParserTests.txt
index 082ec61d7..0073ede4e 100644
--- a/citeParserTests.txt
+++ b/citeParserTests.txt
@@ -279,8 +279,7 @@ Erroneous refs
 <p><strong class="error mw-ext-cite-error">Cite error: Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;
 name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title</strong>
 </p><p><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>
-</p><p><strong class="error mw-ext-cite-error">Cite error: Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;
-refs with no content must have a name</strong>
+</p><p><strong class="error mw-ext-cite-error">Cite error: The opening <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag is malformed or has a bad name</strong>
 </p><p><sup id="cite_ref-bar_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bar-2">[2]</a></sup>
 </p><p><sup id="cite_ref-blankwithnoreference_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-blankwithnoreference-3">[3]</a></sup>
 </p><p><strong class="error mw-ext-cite-error">Cite error: Invalid <code>&lt;references&gt;</code> tag;
diff --git a/i18n/en.json b/i18n/en.json
index 04f2f6040..bf39a3f39 100644
--- a/i18n/en.json
+++ b/i18n/en.json
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 	"cite-desc": "Adds <nowiki><ref[ name=id]></nowiki> and <nowiki><references/></nowiki> tags, for citations",
 	"cite_error": "Cite error: $1",
 	"cite_error_ref_numeric_key": "Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;\nname cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title",
-	"cite_error_ref_no_key": "Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;\nrefs with no content must have a name",
+	"cite_error_ref_no_key": "The opening <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag is malformed or has a bad name",
 	"cite_error_ref_too_many_keys": "Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;\ninvalid names, e.g. too many",
 	"cite_error_ref_no_input": "Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag;\nrefs with no name must have content",
 	"cite_error_references_duplicate_key": "Invalid <code>&lt;ref&gt;</code> tag; name \"$1\" defined multiple times with different content",