diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PoolThreadCache.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PoolThreadCache.java
index ec0b4beb54..68953a1a4e 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PoolThreadCache.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/PoolThreadCache.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ final class PoolThreadCache {
         }
         if (freeSweepAllocationThreshold < 1) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("freeSweepAllocationThreshold: "
-                    + maxCachedBufferCapacity + " (expected: > 0)");
+                    + freeSweepAllocationThreshold + " (expected: > 0)");
         }
         this.freeSweepAllocationThreshold = freeSweepAllocationThreshold;
         this.heapArena = heapArena;