diff --git a/reframe/core/exceptions.py b/reframe/core/exceptions.py
index 6375a08c7f..3764c8c2ff 100644
--- a/reframe/core/exceptions.py
+++ b/reframe/core/exceptions.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def __init__(self, stdout, stderr):
         super().__init__()
         self._message = (
             "standard error can be found in `%s', "
-            "standard output can be found in `%s'" % (stdout, stderr)
+            "standard output can be found in `%s'" % (stderr, stdout)
         )