diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index 3953c9f745..7857ce9fbd 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -2105,12 +2105,12 @@ static int handle_content_merge(struct merge_options *opt,
 					  &result_buf);
 
 		if ((merge_status < 0) || !result_buf.ptr)
-			ret = error(_("Failed to execute internal merge"));
+			ret = error(_("failed to execute internal merge"));
 
 		if (!ret &&
 		    write_object_file(result_buf.ptr, result_buf.size,
 				      OBJ_BLOB, &result->oid))
-			ret = error(_("Unable to add %s to database"), path);
+			ret = error(_("unable to add %s to database"), path);
 
 		free(result_buf.ptr);
 		if (ret)
diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 6a4081bb0f..0d7e57e2df 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -1383,12 +1383,12 @@ static int merge_mode_and_contents(struct merge_options *opt,
 						  extra_marker_size);
 
 			if ((merge_status < 0) || !result_buf.ptr)
-				ret = err(opt, _("Failed to execute internal merge"));
+				ret = err(opt, _("failed to execute internal merge"));
 
 			if (!ret &&
 			    write_object_file(result_buf.ptr, result_buf.size,
 					      OBJ_BLOB, &result->blob.oid))
-				ret = err(opt, _("Unable to add %s to database"),
+				ret = err(opt, _("unable to add %s to database"),
 					  a->path);
 
 			free(result_buf.ptr);
diff --git a/t/t6406-merge-attr.sh b/t/t6406-merge-attr.sh
index 05ad13b23e..72f8c1722f 100755
--- a/t/t6406-merge-attr.sh
+++ b/t/t6406-merge-attr.sh
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ test_expect_success !WINDOWS 'custom merge driver that is killed with a signal'
 	>./please-abort &&
 	echo "* merge=custom" >.gitattributes &&
 	test_must_fail git merge main 2>err &&
-	grep "^error: Failed to execute internal merge" err &&
+	grep "^error: failed to execute internal merge" err &&
 	git ls-files -u >output &&
 	git diff --name-only HEAD >>output &&
 	test_must_be_empty output