diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSource.java b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSource.java
index 17df6b1d4c5..369b5fe2ef5 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSource.java
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSource.java
@@ -186,8 +186,9 @@ public class RemoteScrollableHitSource extends ScrollableHitSource {
                             }
                             if (xContentType == null) {
                                 try {
+                                    logger.debug("Response didn't include Content-Type: " + bodyMessage(response.getEntity()));
                                     throw new OpenSearchException(
-                                        "Response didn't include Content-Type: " + bodyMessage(response.getEntity()));
+                                        "Response didn't include supported Content-Type, remote is likely not an OpenSearch instance");
                                 } catch (IOException e) {
                                     OpenSearchException ee = new OpenSearchException("Error extracting body from response");
                                     ee.addSuppressed(e);
diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSourceTests.java b/modules/reindex/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSourceTests.java
index 25599d9af56..5bc92addae6 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSourceTests.java
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/remote/RemoteScrollableHitSourceTests.java
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 import static org.opensearch.common.unit.TimeValue.timeValueMillis;
 import static org.opensearch.common.unit.TimeValue.timeValueMinutes;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.empty;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
@@ -472,7 +471,7 @@ public class RemoteScrollableHitSourceTests extends OpenSearchTestCase {
     public void testNoContentTypeIsError() {
         RuntimeException e = expectListenerFailure(RuntimeException.class, (RejectAwareActionListener<Version> listener) ->
                 sourceWithMockedRemoteCall(false, null, "main/0_20_5.json").lookupRemoteVersion(listener));
-        assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("Response didn't include Content-Type: body={"));
+        assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "Response didn't include supported Content-Type, remote is likely not an OpenSearch instance");
     }
 
     public void testInvalidJsonThinksRemoteIsNotES() throws IOException {