diff --git a/contrib/pg_stat_statements/pg_stat_statements.c b/contrib/pg_stat_statements/pg_stat_statements.c
index cc9efab2431..33f9a79f542 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_stat_statements/pg_stat_statements.c
+++ b/contrib/pg_stat_statements/pg_stat_statements.c
@@ -642,19 +642,19 @@ pgss_shmem_startup(void)
 read_error:
 	ereport(LOG,
 			(errcode_for_file_access(),
-			 errmsg("could not read pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+			 errmsg("could not read file \"%s\": %m",
 					PGSS_DUMP_FILE)));
 	goto fail;
 data_error:
 	ereport(LOG,
 			(errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
-			 errmsg("ignoring invalid data in pg_stat_statement file \"%s\"",
+			 errmsg("ignoring invalid data in file \"%s\"",
 					PGSS_DUMP_FILE)));
 	goto fail;
 write_error:
 	ereport(LOG,
 			(errcode_for_file_access(),
-			 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+			 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 					PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 fail:
 	if (buffer)
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ pgss_shmem_shutdown(int code, Datum arg)
 error:
 	ereport(LOG,
 			(errcode_for_file_access(),
-			 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+			 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 					PGSS_DUMP_FILE ".tmp")));
 	if (qbuffer)
 		free(qbuffer);
@@ -1871,7 +1871,7 @@ qtext_store(const char *query, int query_len,
 error:
 	ereport(LOG,
 			(errcode_for_file_access(),
-			 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+			 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 					PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 
 	if (fd >= 0)
@@ -1913,7 +1913,7 @@ qtext_load_file(Size *buffer_size)
 		if (errno != ENOENT)
 			ereport(LOG,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not read pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+					 errmsg("could not read file \"%s\": %m",
 							PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -1923,7 +1923,7 @@ qtext_load_file(Size *buffer_size)
 	{
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not stat pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not stat file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		CloseTransientFile(fd);
 		return NULL;
@@ -1939,7 +1939,7 @@ qtext_load_file(Size *buffer_size)
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_OUT_OF_MEMORY),
 				 errmsg("out of memory"),
-				 errdetail("Could not allocate enough memory to read pg_stat_statement file \"%s\".",
+				 errdetail("Could not allocate enough memory to read file \"%s\".",
 						   PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		CloseTransientFile(fd);
 		return NULL;
@@ -1958,7 +1958,7 @@ qtext_load_file(Size *buffer_size)
 		if (errno)
 			ereport(LOG,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not read pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+					 errmsg("could not read file \"%s\": %m",
 							PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		free(buf);
 		CloseTransientFile(fd);
@@ -2088,7 +2088,7 @@ gc_qtexts(void)
 	{
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		goto gc_fail;
 	}
@@ -2118,7 +2118,7 @@ gc_qtexts(void)
 		{
 			ereport(LOG,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+					 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 							PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 			hash_seq_term(&hash_seq);
 			goto gc_fail;
@@ -2136,14 +2136,14 @@ gc_qtexts(void)
 	if (ftruncate(fileno(qfile), extent) != 0)
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not truncate pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not truncate file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 
 	if (FreeFile(qfile))
 	{
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not write file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		qfile = NULL;
 		goto gc_fail;
@@ -2203,7 +2203,7 @@ gc_fail:
 	if (qfile == NULL)
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write new pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not recreate file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 	else
 		FreeFile(qfile);
@@ -2255,7 +2255,7 @@ entry_reset(void)
 	{
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not create pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not create file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 		goto done;
 	}
@@ -2264,7 +2264,7 @@ entry_reset(void)
 	if (ftruncate(fileno(qfile), 0) != 0)
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not truncate pg_stat_statement file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not truncate file \"%s\": %m",
 						PGSS_TEXT_FILE)));
 
 	FreeFile(qfile);
diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index 3ee6d5c4676..9f8ae9dc756 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -3569,7 +3569,7 @@ XLogFileOpen(XLogSegNo segno)
 	if (fd < 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not open write-ahead log file \"%s\": %m", path)));
+				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m", path)));
 
 	return fd;
 }
@@ -3758,7 +3758,7 @@ XLogFileClose(void)
 	if (close(openLogFile))
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not close log file %s: %m",
+				 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
 						XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, openLogSegNo))));
 	openLogFile = -1;
 }
@@ -4092,7 +4092,7 @@ RemoveXlogFile(const char *segname, XLogRecPtr PriorRedoPtr, XLogRecPtr endptr)
 		{
 			ereport(LOG,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not rename old write-ahead log file \"%s\": %m",
+					 errmsg("could not rename file \"%s\": %m",
 							path)));
 			return;
 		}
@@ -4502,7 +4502,7 @@ WriteControlFile(void)
 	if (fd < 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not create control file \"%s\": %m",
+				 errmsg("could not create file \"%s\": %m",
 						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 
 	errno = 0;
@@ -4514,7 +4514,8 @@ WriteControlFile(void)
 			errno = ENOSPC;
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write to control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not write to file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 	}
 	pgstat_report_wait_end();
 
@@ -4522,13 +4523,15 @@ WriteControlFile(void)
 	if (pg_fsync(fd) != 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not fsync control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 	pgstat_report_wait_end();
 
 	if (close(fd))
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not close control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 }
 
 static void
@@ -4758,8 +4761,7 @@ UpdateControlFile(void)
 	if (fd < 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not open control file \"%s\": %m",
-						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
+				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m", XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 
 	errno = 0;
 	pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_CONTROL_FILE_WRITE_UPDATE);
@@ -4770,7 +4772,8 @@ UpdateControlFile(void)
 			errno = ENOSPC;
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write to control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not write to file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 	}
 	pgstat_report_wait_end();
 
@@ -4778,13 +4781,15 @@ UpdateControlFile(void)
 	if (pg_fsync(fd) != 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not fsync control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 	pgstat_report_wait_end();
 
 	if (close(fd))
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not close control file: %m")));
+				 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
+						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
 }
 
 /*
@@ -5684,7 +5689,7 @@ exitArchiveRecovery(TimeLineID endTLI, XLogRecPtr endOfLog)
 		if (close(fd))
 			ereport(ERROR,
 					(errcode_for_file_access(),
-					 errmsg("could not close log file %s: %m",
+					 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
 							XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, startLogSegNo))));
 	}
 
@@ -10250,7 +10255,7 @@ assign_xlog_sync_method(int new_sync_method, void *extra)
 			if (pg_fsync(openLogFile) != 0)
 				ereport(PANIC,
 						(errcode_for_file_access(),
-						 errmsg("could not fsync log segment %s: %m",
+						 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
 								XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, openLogSegNo))));
 			pgstat_report_wait_end();
 			if (get_sync_bit(sync_method) != get_sync_bit(new_sync_method))
@@ -10276,7 +10281,7 @@ issue_xlog_fsync(int fd, XLogSegNo segno)
 			if (pg_fsync_no_writethrough(fd) != 0)
 				ereport(PANIC,
 						(errcode_for_file_access(),
-						 errmsg("could not fsync log file %s: %m",
+						 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
 								XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, segno))));
 			break;
 #ifdef HAVE_FSYNC_WRITETHROUGH
@@ -10284,7 +10289,7 @@ issue_xlog_fsync(int fd, XLogSegNo segno)
 			if (pg_fsync_writethrough(fd) != 0)
 				ereport(PANIC,
 						(errcode_for_file_access(),
-						 errmsg("could not fsync write-through log file %s: %m",
+						 errmsg("could not fsync write-through file \"%s\": %m",
 								XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, segno))));
 			break;
 #endif
@@ -10293,7 +10298,7 @@ issue_xlog_fsync(int fd, XLogSegNo segno)
 			if (pg_fdatasync(fd) != 0)
 				ereport(PANIC,
 						(errcode_for_file_access(),
-						 errmsg("could not fdatasync log file %s: %m",
+						 errmsg("could not fdatasync file \"%s\": %m",
 								XLogFileNameP(ThisTimeLineID, segno))));
 			break;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_recvlogical.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_recvlogical.c
index ef85c9af4c7..a242e0be88b 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_recvlogical.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_recvlogical.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ OutputFsync(TimestampTz now)
 	if (fsync(outfd) != 0)
 	{
 		fprintf(stderr,
-				_("%s: could not fsync log file \"%s\": %s\n"),
+				_("%s: could not fsync file \"%s\": %s\n"),
 				progname, outfile, strerror(errno));
 		return false;
 	}