diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlMetadata.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlMetadata.java
index 0cdab26f9fa..d461307988a 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlMetadata.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/MlMetadata.java
@@ -361,7 +361,8 @@ public class MlMetadata implements MetaData.Custom {
             }
             PersistentTask<?> jobTask = getJobTask(jobId, tasks);
             if (jobTask != null) {
-                throw ExceptionsHelper.conflictStatusException("Cannot delete job [" + jobId + "] because the job hasn't been closed");
+                throw ExceptionsHelper.conflictStatusException("Cannot delete job [" + jobId + "] because the job is "
+                        + jobTask.getStatus());
             }
             Job.Builder jobBuilder = new Job.Builder(job);
             jobBuilder.setDeleted(true);
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/CloseJobAction.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/CloseJobAction.java
index fe61ad00ace..e2dead6ebc6 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/CloseJobAction.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/action/CloseJobAction.java
@@ -573,21 +573,18 @@ public class CloseJobAction extends Action<CloseJobAction.Request, CloseJobActio
                 .custom(PersistentTasksCustomMetaData.TYPE);
         PersistentTask<?> jobTask = MlMetadata.getJobTask(jobId, tasks);
         if (jobTask == null || jobTask.getStatus() == null) {
-            throw new ElasticsearchStatusException("cannot close job, because job [" + jobId + "] is not open", RestStatus.CONFLICT);
+            throw ExceptionsHelper.conflictStatusException("cannot close job, because job [" + jobId + "] is " + JobState.CLOSED);
         }
         JobTaskStatus jobTaskStatus = (JobTaskStatus) jobTask.getStatus();
         if (jobTaskStatus.getState().isAnyOf(JobState.OPENED, JobState.FAILED) == false) {
-            throw new ElasticsearchStatusException("cannot close job, because job [" + jobId + "] is not open", RestStatus.CONFLICT);
+            throw ExceptionsHelper.conflictStatusException("cannot close job, because job [" + jobId + "] is " + jobTaskStatus.getState());
         }
 
         Optional<DatafeedConfig> datafeed = mlMetadata.getDatafeedByJobId(jobId);
         if (datafeed.isPresent()) {
-            DatafeedState datafeedState = MlMetadata.getDatafeedState(datafeed.get().getId(),
-                    tasks);
+            DatafeedState datafeedState = MlMetadata.getDatafeedState(datafeed.get().getId(), tasks);
             if (datafeedState != DatafeedState.STOPPED) {
-                throw new ElasticsearchStatusException(
-                        "cannot close job [{}], datafeed hasn't been stopped", RestStatus.CONFLICT,
-                        jobId);
+                throw ExceptionsHelper.conflictStatusException("cannot close job [{}], datafeed hasn't been stopped", jobId);
             }
         }
         return jobTask;
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/utils/ExceptionsHelper.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/utils/ExceptionsHelper.java
index 920e8560ba7..9d4e7c7c048 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/utils/ExceptionsHelper.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/utils/ExceptionsHelper.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.job.messages.Messages;
 
 public class ExceptionsHelper {
 
+    private ExceptionsHelper() {}
+
     public static ResourceNotFoundException missingJobException(String jobId) {
         return new ResourceNotFoundException(Messages.getMessage(Messages.JOB_UNKNOWN_ID, jobId));
     }
@@ -36,8 +38,8 @@ public class ExceptionsHelper {
         return new ElasticsearchException(msg, cause);
     }
 
-    public static ElasticsearchStatusException conflictStatusException(String msg) {
-        return new ElasticsearchStatusException(msg, RestStatus.CONFLICT);
+    public static ElasticsearchStatusException conflictStatusException(String msg, Object... args) {
+        return new ElasticsearchStatusException(msg, RestStatus.CONFLICT, args);
     }
 
     /**