diff --git a/src/main/php/PHPMD/AbstractRule.php b/src/main/php/PHPMD/AbstractRule.php
index 1944e7efe..a7ecb4a6a 100644
--- a/src/main/php/PHPMD/AbstractRule.php
+++ b/src/main/php/PHPMD/AbstractRule.php
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ public function getBooleanProperty($name)
         if (isset($this->properties[$name])) {
             return in_array($this->properties[$name], array('true', 'on', 1));
         }
-        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property $' . $name . ' does not exist.');
+        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property "' . $name . '" does not exist.');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ public function getIntProperty($name)
         if (isset($this->properties[$name])) {
             return (int) $this->properties[$name];
         }
-        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property $' . $name . ' does not exist.');
+        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property "' . $name . '" does not exist.');
     }
 
 
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ public function getStringProperty($name)
         if (isset($this->properties[$name])) {
             return $this->properties[$name];
         }
-        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property $' . $name . ' does not exist.');
+        throw new \OutOfBoundsException('Property "' . $name . '" does not exist.');
 
     }