diff --git a/Source/cmFileAPICommand.cxx b/Source/cmFileAPICommand.cxx
index 6ea01cce9d..ca5389f421 100644
--- a/Source/cmFileAPICommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmFileAPICommand.cxx
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ bool handleQueryCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
                         cmExecutionStatus& status)
 {
   if (args.empty()) {
-    status.SetError("QUERY subcommand called without required arguments.");
+    status.SetError("QUERY called without required arguments.");
     return false;
   }
 
@@ -97,21 +97,20 @@ bool handleQueryCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
     return true;
   }
   if (!unparsedArguments.empty()) {
-    status.SetError("QUERY subcommand given unknown argument \"" +
+    status.SetError("QUERY given unknown argument \"" +
                     unparsedArguments.front() + "\".");
     return false;
   }
 
   if (!std::all_of(arguments.ApiVersion.begin(), arguments.ApiVersion.end(),
                    isCharDigit)) {
-    status.SetError("QUERY subcommand given a non-integer API_VERSION.");
+    status.SetError("QUERY given non-integer API_VERSION.");
     return false;
   }
   int const apiVersion = std::atoi(arguments.ApiVersion.c_str());
   if (apiVersion != 1) {
     status.SetError(
-      cmStrCat("QUERY subcommand given an unsupported API_VERSION \"",
-               arguments.ApiVersion,
+      cmStrCat("QUERY given unsupported API_VERSION \"", arguments.ApiVersion,
                "\" (the only currently supported version is 1)."));
     return false;
   }
@@ -138,7 +137,7 @@ bool handleQueryCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
 
   if (!std::all_of(errors.begin(), errors.end(),
                    [](std::string const& s) -> bool { return s.empty(); })) {
-    std::string message("QUERY subcommand was given invalid arguments:");
+    std::string message("QUERY given invalid arguments:");
     for (std::string const& s : errors) {
       if (!s.empty()) {
         message = cmStrCat(message, "\n  ", s);
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/FileAPI/ProjectQueryBad-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/FileAPI/ProjectQueryBad-stderr.txt
index 84eff98b49..5e992b3a74 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/FileAPI/ProjectQueryBad-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/FileAPI/ProjectQueryBad-stderr.txt
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@ CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
 .*
 Invalid API version checks
 CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
-  cmake_file_api QUERY subcommand given an unsupported API_VERSION "2" \(the
-  only currently supported version is 1\)\.
+  cmake_file_api QUERY given unsupported API_VERSION "2" \(the only currently
+  supported version is 1\)\.
 .*
 CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
-  cmake_file_api QUERY subcommand given a non-integer API_VERSION\.
+  cmake_file_api QUERY given non-integer API_VERSION\.
 .*
 Invalid version numbers check
 CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
-  cmake_file_api QUERY subcommand was given invalid arguments:
+  cmake_file_api QUERY given invalid arguments:
 
     Given a malformed version "nope" for CODEMODEL\.
     Given a malformed version "-2" for CACHE\.
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
 .*
 Requested versions too high check
 CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
-  cmake_file_api QUERY subcommand was given invalid arguments:
+  cmake_file_api QUERY given invalid arguments:
 
     None of the specified CODEMODEL versions is supported by this version of CMake\.
     None of the specified CACHE versions is supported by this version of CMake\.
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
 .*
 Requested versions too low check
 CMake Error at ProjectQueryBad\.cmake:[0-9]+ \(cmake_file_api\):
-  cmake_file_api QUERY subcommand was given invalid arguments:
+  cmake_file_api QUERY given invalid arguments:
 
     None of the specified CODEMODEL versions is supported by this version of CMake\.
     None of the specified CACHE versions is supported by this version of CMake\.