diff --git a/src/librustc_mir/interpret/validity.rs b/src/librustc_mir/interpret/validity.rs
index d60f6f38d07..83b8d58e0be 100644
--- a/src/librustc_mir/interpret/validity.rs
+++ b/src/librustc_mir/interpret/validity.rs
@@ -788,7 +788,7 @@ impl<'rt, 'mir, 'tcx, M: Machine<'mir, 'tcx>> ValueVisitor<'mir, 'tcx, M>
                                     .unwrap();
                                 self.path.push(PathElem::ArrayElem(i));
 
-                                throw_validation_failure!("uninitialized value", self.path)
+                                throw_validation_failure!("uninitialized bytes", self.path)
                             }
                             // Other errors shouldn't be possible
                             _ => return Err(err),
diff --git a/src/test/ui/consts/const-eval/union-ice.stderr b/src/test/ui/consts/const-eval/union-ice.stderr
index 946c375ced7..2545167aa02 100644
--- a/src/test/ui/consts/const-eval/union-ice.stderr
+++ b/src/test/ui/consts/const-eval/union-ice.stderr
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ LL | |         unsafe { UNION.field3 },
 ...  |
 LL | |     a: 42,
 LL | | };
-   | |__^ type validation failed: encountered uninitialized value at .b[1]
+   | |__^ type validation failed: encountered uninitialized bytes at .b[1]
    |
    = note: The rules on what exactly is undefined behavior aren't clear, so this check might be overzealous. Please open an issue on the rustc repository if you believe it should not be considered undefined behavior.