diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
index 7edc1773b49e..c8ddd58ac285 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ def validate_whiskers(s):
         try:
             return float(s)
         except ValueError as e:
-            raise ValueError("Not a valid whisker value ['range', float, "
+            raise ValueError("Not a valid whisker value [float, "
                              "(float, float)]") from e