diff --git a/etcdserver/errors.go b/etcdserver/errors.go
index cc9f04a27..f570837cc 100644
--- a/etcdserver/errors.go
+++ b/etcdserver/errors.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ var (
 	ErrPeerURLexists          = errors.New("etcdserver: peerURL exists")
 	ErrCanceled               = errors.New("etcdserver: request cancelled")
 	ErrTimeout                = errors.New("etcdserver: request timed out")
-	ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderLost = errors.New("etcdserver: request timed out, possibly due to leader lost")
+	ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderFail = errors.New("etcdserver: request timed out, possibly due to previous leader failure")
 )
 
 func isKeyNotFound(err error) bool {
diff --git a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/http.go b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/http.go
index 0f02954c6..062621095 100644
--- a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/http.go
+++ b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/http.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func writeError(w http.ResponseWriter, err error) {
 		herr := httptypes.NewHTTPError(e.HTTPStatus(), e.Error())
 		herr.WriteTo(w)
 	default:
-		if err == etcdserver.ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderLost {
+		if err == etcdserver.ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderFail {
 			plog.Error(err)
 		} else {
 			plog.Errorf("got unexpected response error (%v)", err)
diff --git a/etcdserver/server.go b/etcdserver/server.go
index 58da94c10..0ea8e785f 100644
--- a/etcdserver/server.go
+++ b/etcdserver/server.go
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) parseProposeCtxErr(err error, start time.Time) error {
 		curLeadElected := s.r.leadElectedTime()
 		prevLeadLost := curLeadElected.Add(-2 * time.Duration(s.cfg.ElectionTicks) * time.Duration(s.cfg.TickMs) * time.Millisecond)
 		if start.After(prevLeadLost) && start.Before(curLeadElected) {
-			return ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderLost
+			return ErrTimeoutDueToLeaderFail
 		}
 		return ErrTimeout
 	default: