diff --git a/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/IndexAuditUpgradeIT.java b/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/IndexAuditUpgradeIT.java
index ffdf0a39a909a..1f76e670854a2 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/IndexAuditUpgradeIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/IndexAuditUpgradeIT.java
@@ -71,6 +71,6 @@ private void assertNumUniqueNodeNameBuckets(int numBuckets) throws Exception {
         assertNotNull(nodesAgg);
         List<Map<String, Object>> buckets = (List<Map<String, Object>>) nodesAgg.get("buckets");
         assertNotNull(buckets);
-        assertEquals(numBuckets, buckets.size());
+        assertEquals("Found node buckets " + buckets, numBuckets, buckets.size());
     }
 }