diff --git a/crates/sui/src/client_commands.rs b/crates/sui/src/client_commands.rs
index 2250324c7ab4e..0f474b8734e9c 100644
--- a/crates/sui/src/client_commands.rs
+++ b/crates/sui/src/client_commands.rs
@@ -734,11 +734,14 @@ impl SuiClientCommands {
             } => {
                 if build_config.test_mode {
                     return Err(SuiError::ModulePublishFailure {
-                        error: "The `publish` subcommand should not be used with the `--test` flag\n\
-                                \n\
-                                Library code in published packages must not depend on test code.\n\
-                                In order to fix this and publish the package without `--test`, search for, and remove \
-                                instances of e.g. test modules declared as `friend`s of modules from `sources/`.".to_string(),
+                        error:
+                            "The `publish` subcommand should not be used with the `--test` flag\n\
+                            \n\
+                            Code in published packages must not depend on test code.\n\
+                            In order to fix this and publish the package without `--test`, \
+                            remove any non-test dependencies on test-only code.\n\
+                            You can ensure all test-only dependencies have been removed by \
+                            compiling the package normally with `sui move build`. ".to_string(),
                     }
                     .into());
                 }
diff --git a/crates/sui/tests/cli_tests.rs b/crates/sui/tests/cli_tests.rs
index 33630a135532e..21d5fe767d153 100644
--- a/crates/sui/tests/cli_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/sui/tests/cli_tests.rs
@@ -941,7 +941,7 @@ async fn test_package_publish_test_flag() -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
     let expect = expect![[r#"
         Err(
             ModulePublishFailure {
-                error: "The `publish` subcommand should not be used with the `--test` flag\n\nLibrary code in published packages must not depend on test code.\nIn order to fix this and publish the package without `--test`, search for, and remove instances of e.g. test modules declared as `friend`s of modules from `sources/`.",
+                error: "The `publish` subcommand should not be used with the `--test` flag\n\nCode in published packages must not depend on test code.\nIn order to fix this and publish the package without `--test`, remove any non-test dependencies on test-only code.\nYou can ensure all test-only dependencies have been removed by compiling the package normally with `sui move build`. ",
             },
         )
     "#]];