diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/Base64.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/Base64.java
index 5f927b053a..df72909f40 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/Base64.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/codec/binary/Base64.java
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ private Base64(final int lineLength, final byte[] lineSeparator, final byte padd
             decodeTable = DECODE_TABLE;
         } else {
             if (encodeTable.length != ALPHABET_LENGTH) {
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException("encodeTable must be exactly 64 bytes long");
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("encodeTable must have exactly 64 entries.");
             }
             decodeTable = calculateDecodeTable(encodeTable);
         }