diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index 59fb113b07..ef1c1a9cf2 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -974,7 +974,7 @@ static int cmd_config_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 						     argv[0], comment, value);
 		if (ret == CONFIG_NOTHING_SET)
 			error(_("cannot overwrite multiple values with a single value\n"
-			"       Use a regexp, --add or --replace-all to change %s."), argv[0]);
+			"       Use --value=<pattern>, --append or --all to change %s."), argv[0]);
 	}
 
 	location_options_release(&location_opts);