diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
index 8af0f4fa269..3627b353917 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/license.py
@@ -175,7 +175,8 @@ def wrong_spdx_identifier(line, path):
             if error:
                 return error
 
-    print('{0}: the license does not match the expected format'.format(path))
+    print('{0}: the license header at the top of the file does not match the \
+          expected format'.format(path))
     return GENERAL_MISMATCH