diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/GlobalStateIdContext.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/GlobalStateIdContext.java
index a8c7141f05b..9f3a135336b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/GlobalStateIdContext.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/GlobalStateIdContext.java
@@ -129,8 +129,10 @@ public long receiveRequestState(RpcRequestHeaderProto header,
     long clientStateId = header.getStateId();
     if (clientStateId > serverStateId &&
         HAServiceState.ACTIVE.equals(namesystem.getState())) {
-      FSNamesystem.LOG.warn("A client sent stateId: " + clientStateId +
-          ", but server state is: " + serverStateId);
+      FSNamesystem.LOG.warn("The client stateId: {} is greater than "
+          + "the server stateId: {} This is unexpected. "
+          + "Resetting client stateId to server stateId",
+          clientStateId, serverStateId);
       return serverStateId;
     }
     if (HAServiceState.OBSERVER.equals(namesystem.getState()) &&