diff --git a/pulsar-client/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/impl/TopicListWatcher.java b/pulsar-client/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/impl/TopicListWatcher.java
index 88ada6a344b8d..384d1b688b8d5 100644
--- a/pulsar-client/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/impl/TopicListWatcher.java
+++ b/pulsar-client/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/impl/TopicListWatcher.java
@@ -148,8 +148,8 @@ public void connectionOpened(ClientCnx cnx) {
                             cnx.channel().close();
                             return null;
                         }
-                        log.warn("[{}][{}] Failed to subscribe to topic on {}", topic,
-                                getHandlerName(), cnx.channel().remoteAddress());
+                        log.warn("[{}][{}] Failed to create topic list watcher on {}",
+                                topic, getHandlerName(), cnx.channel().remoteAddress());
 
                         if (e.getCause() instanceof PulsarClientException
                                 && PulsarClientException.isRetriableError(e.getCause())