diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index dc6e637428..5c329f9835 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -2014,7 +2014,8 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			break;
 
 		default:
-			die(_("--negotiate-only and --recurse-submodules cannot be used together"));
+			die(_("options '%s' and '%s' cannot be used together"),
+			    "--negotiate-only", "--recurse-submodules");
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
index 3f3ad24299..b83f3f5ffe 100755
--- a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
+++ b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ test_expect_success 'usage: --negotiate-only without --negotiation-tip' '
 
 test_expect_success 'usage: --negotiate-only with --recurse-submodules' '
 	cat >err.expect <<-\EOF &&
-	fatal: --negotiate-only and --recurse-submodules cannot be used together
+	fatal: options '\''--negotiate-only'\'' and '\''--recurse-submodules'\'' cannot be used together
 	EOF
 
 	test_must_fail git -c protocol.version=2 -C client fetch \