diff --git a/gora-core/src/main/java/org/apache/gora/util/IOUtils.java b/gora-core/src/main/java/org/apache/gora/util/IOUtils.java
index bc60360b2..8d44efc9b 100644
--- a/gora-core/src/main/java/org/apache/gora/util/IOUtils.java
+++ b/gora-core/src/main/java/org/apache/gora/util/IOUtils.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public static Object readObject(DataInput in)
         return obj;
       }
     }
-    throw new IOException("cannot write to DataOutput of instance:"
+    throw new IOException("cannot read from DataInput of instance:"
         + in.getClass());
   }