diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
index 268c5f0e246..33cf67670a7 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/astreamer_verify.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ astreamer_verify_content(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member,
 
 		default:
 			/* Shouldn't happen. */
-			pg_fatal("unexpected state while parsing tar file");
+			pg_fatal("unexpected state while parsing tar archive");
 	}
 }
 
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ member_verify_header(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member)
 	if (m == NULL)
 	{
 		report_backup_error(mystreamer->context,
-							"\"%s\" is present in \"%s\" but not in the manifest",
+							"file \"%s\" is present in archive \"%s\" but not in the manifest",
 							member->pathname, mystreamer->archive_name);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ member_verify_header(astreamer *streamer, astreamer_member *member)
 	if (m->size != member->size)
 	{
 		report_backup_error(mystreamer->context,
-							"\"%s\" has size %llu in \"%s\" but size %" PRIu64 " in the manifest",
+							"file \"%s\" has size %llu in archive \"%s\" but size %" PRIu64 " in the manifest",
 							member->pathname,
 							(unsigned long long) member->size,
 							mystreamer->archive_name,
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ member_verify_checksum(astreamer *streamer)
 	if (mystreamer->checksum_bytes != m->size)
 	{
 		report_backup_error(mystreamer->context,
-							"file \"%s\" in \"%s\" should contain %" PRIu64 " bytes, but read %" PRIu64 " bytes",
+							"file \"%s\" in archive \"%s\" should contain %" PRIu64 " bytes, but %" PRIu64 " bytes were read",
 							m->pathname, mystreamer->archive_name,
 							m->size,
 							mystreamer->checksum_bytes);
@@ -317,12 +317,12 @@ member_verify_checksum(astreamer *streamer)
 	/* And check it against the manifest. */
 	if (checksumlen != m->checksum_length)
 		report_backup_error(mystreamer->context,
-							"file \"%s\" in \"%s\" has checksum of length %d, but expected %d",
+							"file \"%s\" in archive \"%s\" has checksum of length %d, but expected %d",
 							m->pathname, mystreamer->archive_name,
 							m->checksum_length, checksumlen);
 	else if (memcmp(checksumbuf, m->checksum_payload, checksumlen) != 0)
 		report_backup_error(mystreamer->context,
-							"checksum mismatch for file \"%s\" in \"%s\"",
+							"checksum mismatch for file \"%s\" in archive \"%s\"",
 							m->pathname, mystreamer->archive_name);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/pg_verifybackup.c b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/pg_verifybackup.c
index a034d521123..48994ef9bc6 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/pg_verifybackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/pg_verifybackup.c
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (!no_parse_wal && context.format == 't')
 	{
 		pg_log_error("pg_waldump cannot read tar files");
-		pg_log_error_hint("You must use -n or --no-parse-wal when verifying a tar-format backup.");
+		pg_log_error_hint("You must use -n/--no-parse-wal when verifying a tar-format backup.");
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
@@ -694,11 +694,11 @@ verify_plain_backup_file(verifier_context *context, char *relpath,
 		return;
 	}
 
-	/* If it's not a directory, it should be a plain file. */
+	/* If it's not a directory, it should be a regular file. */
 	if (!S_ISREG(sb.st_mode))
 	{
 		report_backup_error(context,
-							"\"%s\" is not a file or directory",
+							"\"%s\" is not a regular file or directory",
 							relpath);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -899,11 +899,11 @@ precheck_tar_backup_file(verifier_context *context, char *relpath,
 		return;
 	}
 
-	/* In a tar format backup, we expect only plain files. */
+	/* In a tar format backup, we expect only regular files. */
 	if (!S_ISREG(sb.st_mode))
 	{
 		report_backup_error(context,
-							"\"%s\" is not a plain file",
+							"file \"%s\" is not a regular file",
 							relpath);
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/003_corruption.pl b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/003_corruption.pl
index 84f23b8bc3d..1dd60f709cf 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/003_corruption.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/003_corruption.pl
@@ -37,37 +37,37 @@ my @scenario = (
 		'name' => 'extra_file',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_extra_file,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/extra_file.*present (on disk|in "[^"]+") but not in the manifest/
+		  qr/extra_file.*present (on disk|in archive "[^"]+") but not in the manifest/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'extra_tablespace_file',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_extra_tablespace_file,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/extra_ts_file.*present (on disk|in "[^"]+") but not in the manifest/
+		  qr/extra_ts_file.*present (on disk|in archive "[^"]+") but not in the manifest/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'missing_file',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_missing_file,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/pg_xact\/0000.*present in the manifest but not (on disk|in "[^"]+")/
+		  qr/pg_xact\/0000.*present in the manifest but not (on disk|in archive "[^"]+")/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'missing_tablespace',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_missing_tablespace,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/pg_tblspc.*present in the manifest but not (on disk|in "[^"]+")/
+		  qr/pg_tblspc.*present in the manifest but not (on disk|in archive "[^"]+")/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'append_to_file',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_append_to_file,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/has size \d+ (on disk|in "[^"]+") but size \d+ in the manifest/
+		  qr/has size \d+ (on disk|in archive "[^"]+") but size \d+ in the manifest/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'truncate_file',
 		'mutilate' => \&mutilate_truncate_file,
 		'fails_like' =>
-		  qr/has size 0 (on disk|in "[^"]+") but size \d+ in the manifest/
+		  qr/has size 0 (on disk|in archive "[^"]+") but size \d+ in the manifest/
 	},
 	{
 		'name' => 'replace_file',
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/004_options.pl b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/004_options.pl
index 8c83dc7189e..3cdbe816862 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/004_options.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/004_options.pl
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ $primary->command_fails_like(
 		'--no-parse-wal',
 		$backup_path
 	],
-	qr("pg_multixact" is not a plain file),
+	qr("pg_multixact" is not a regular file),
 	"does not verify with --format=tar --no-parse-wal");
 
 # Test invalid options