diff --git a/lightningd/plugin.c b/lightningd/plugin.c
index 461086761..0fb91c82b 100644
--- a/lightningd/plugin.c
+++ b/lightningd/plugin.c
@@ -46,6 +46,24 @@ static void memleak_help_pending_requests(struct htable *memtable,
 }
 #endif /* DEVELOPER */
 
+static const char *state_desc(const struct plugin *plugin)
+{
+	switch (plugin->plugin_state) {
+	case UNCONFIGURED:
+		return "unconfigured";
+	case AWAITING_GETMANIFEST_RESPONSE:
+		return "before replying to getmanifest";
+	case NEEDS_INIT:
+		return "before we sent init";
+	case AWAITING_INIT_RESPONSE:
+		return "before replying to init";
+	case INIT_COMPLETE:
+		return "during normal operation";
+	}
+	fatal("Invalid plugin state %i for %s",
+	      plugin->plugin_state, plugin->cmd);
+}
+
 struct plugins *plugins_new(const tal_t *ctx, struct log_book *log_book,
 			    struct lightningd *ld)
 {
@@ -630,7 +648,8 @@ static struct io_plan *plugin_write_json(struct io_conn *conn,
 /* This catches the case where their stdout closes (usually they're dead). */
 static void plugin_conn_finish(struct io_conn *conn, struct plugin *plugin)
 {
-	plugin_kill(plugin, "Plugin exited before completing handshake.");
+	const char *msg = tal_fmt(tmpctx, "exited %s", state_desc(plugin));
+	plugin_kill(plugin, msg);
 }
 
 struct io_plan *plugin_stdin_conn_init(struct io_conn *conn,
@@ -1204,12 +1223,8 @@ static const char *plugin_add_params(struct plugin *plugin)
 static void plugin_manifest_timeout(struct plugin *plugin)
 {
 	bool startup = plugin->plugins->startup;
-	if (plugin->plugin_state == AWAITING_GETMANIFEST_RESPONSE)
-		plugin_kill(plugin,
-			    "failed to respond to 'getmanifest' in time, terminating.");
-	else
-		plugin_kill(plugin,
-			    "failed to respond to 'init' in time, terminating.");
+
+	plugin_kill(plugin, tal_fmt(tmpctx, "timed out %s", state_desc(plugin)));
 
 	if (startup)
 		fatal("Can't recover from plugin failure, terminating.");
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin.py b/tests/test_plugin.py
index 57173385a..ce0287727 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugin.py
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ def test_plugin_slowinit(node_factory):
     os.environ['SLOWINIT_TIME'] = '61'
     n = node_factory.get_node()
 
-    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match='failed to respond to \'init\' in time, terminating.'):
+    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=': timed out before replying to init'):
         n.rpc.plugin_start(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "tests/plugins/slow_init.py"))
 
     # It's not actually configured yet, see what happens;
@@ -252,9 +252,12 @@ def test_plugin_command(node_factory):
         n2.rpc.plugin_stop(plugin="static.py")
 
     # Test that we don't crash when starting a broken plugin
-    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=r"Plugin exited before completing handshake."):
+    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=r": exited before replying to getmanifest"):
         n2.rpc.plugin_start(plugin=os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "tests/plugins/broken.py"))
 
+    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match=r': timed out before replying to getmanifest'):
+        n2.rpc.plugin_start(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), 'contrib/plugins/fail/failtimeout.py'))
+
     # Test that we can add a directory with more than one new plugin in it.
     try:
         n.rpc.plugin_startdir(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "contrib/plugins"))
@@ -1800,11 +1803,13 @@ def test_plugin_fail(node_factory):
     time.sleep(2)
     # It should clean up!
     assert 'failcmd' not in [h['command'] for h in l1.rpc.help()['help']]
+    l1.daemon.wait_for_log(r': exited during normal operation')
 
     l1.rpc.plugin_start(plugin)
     time.sleep(2)
     # It should clean up!
     assert 'failcmd' not in [h['command'] for h in l1.rpc.help()['help']]
+    l1.daemon.wait_for_log(r': exited during normal operation')
 
 
 @unittest.skipIf(not DEVELOPER, "without DEVELOPER=1, gossip v slow")