diff --git a/tests/kafkatest/tests/core/security_test.py b/tests/kafkatest/tests/core/security_test.py
index 8dcc264d831c0..e93a6160b1a91 100644
--- a/tests/kafkatest/tests/core/security_test.py
+++ b/tests/kafkatest/tests/core/security_test.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def test_client_ssl_endpoint_validation_failure(self, security_protocol, interbr
         Test that invalid hostname in certificate results in connection failures.
         When security_protocol=SSL, client SSL handshakes are expected to fail due to hostname verification failure.
         When security_protocol=PLAINTEXT and interbroker_security_protocol=SSL, controller connections fail
-        with hostname verification failure. Hence clients are expected to fail with LEADER_NOT_AVAILABLE.
+        with hostname verification failure. Hence clients are expected to fail with INVALID_REPLICATION_FACTOR.
         """
 
         # Start Kafka with valid hostnames in the certs' SANs so that we can create the test topic via the admin client
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def test_client_ssl_endpoint_validation_failure(self, security_protocol, interbr
             # expected
             pass
 
-        error = 'SSLHandshakeException' if security_protocol == 'SSL' else 'LEADER_NOT_AVAILABLE'
+        error = 'SSLHandshakeException' if security_protocol == 'SSL' else 'INVALID_REPLICATION_FACTOR'
         wait_until(lambda: self.producer_consumer_have_expected_error(error), timeout_sec=30)
         self.producer.stop()
         self.consumer.stop()