diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff_output.go b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff_output.go
index e27befceb14..5453bd31789 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff_output.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/diff_output.go
@@ -297,8 +297,7 @@ func (s sqlDiffWriter) WriteViewDiff(ctx context.Context, viewName, oldDefn, new
 }
 
 func (s sqlDiffWriter) WriteTableDiffStats(diffStats []diffStatistics, oldColLen, newColLen int, areTablesKeyless bool) error {
-	// TODO: implement this
-	return errors.New("diff stats are not supported for sql output")
+	return errors.New("invalid output format: sql. SQL format diffs only rendered for schema or data changes")
 }
 
 func (s sqlDiffWriter) RowWriter(fromTableInfo, toTableInfo *diff.TableInfo, tds diff.TableDeltaSummary, unionSch sql.Schema) (diff.SqlRowDiffWriter, error) {
diff --git a/integration-tests/bats/sql-diff.bats b/integration-tests/bats/sql-diff.bats
index 6ab73563844..7fb27698353 100644
--- a/integration-tests/bats/sql-diff.bats
+++ b/integration-tests/bats/sql-diff.bats
@@ -888,5 +888,5 @@ EOF
     dolt sql -q "create table t (i int primary key);"
     run dolt diff --stat -r sql
     [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
-    [[ "$output" =~ "diff stats are not supported for sql output" ]] || false
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+    [[ "$output" =~ "invalid output format: sql. SQL format diffs only rendered for schema or data changes" ]] || false
+}