diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authc/AuthenticationServiceTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authc/AuthenticationServiceTests.java
index c1a17791551..57cb3cd7e82 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authc/AuthenticationServiceTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authc/AuthenticationServiceTests.java
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ public class AuthenticationServiceTests extends ESTestCase {
                 success.set(true);
                 latch.countDown();
             }, this::logAndFail));
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+        } catch (IllegalStateException ex) {
             assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("array length must be <= to " + ArrayUtil.MAX_ARRAY_LENGTH  + " but was: "));
             latch.countDown();
         } catch (NegativeArraySizeException ex) {