diff --git a/gazebo/physics/HeightmapShape.cc b/gazebo/physics/HeightmapShape.cc
index 5130143afb..63ea0fa05c 100644
--- a/gazebo/physics/HeightmapShape.cc
+++ b/gazebo/physics/HeightmapShape.cc
@@ -313,7 +313,8 @@ void HeightmapShape::SetHeight(int _x, int _y, float _value)
   int index =  _y * this->vertSize + _x;
   if (_x < 0 || _y < 0 || index >= static_cast<int>(this->heights.size()))
   {
-    gzerr << "SetHeight: position (" << _x << ", " << _y << ") is outside map!" << std::endl;
+    gzerr << "SetHeight position (" << _x << ", " << _y << ")"
+          << " is out of bounds" << std::endl;
     return;
   }