diff --git a/.changeset/forty-news-kiss.md b/.changeset/forty-news-kiss.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..207c26150d60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/forty-news-kiss.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+[breaking] change sveltekit.message to sveltekit.error.message
diff --git a/documentation/docs/01-project-structure.md b/documentation/docs/01-project-structure.md
index d93e514fd012..f035f7368a8c 100644
--- a/documentation/docs/01-project-structure.md
+++ b/documentation/docs/01-project-structure.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ The `src` directory contains the meat of your project.
   - `%sveltekit.nonce%` — a [CSP](/docs/configuration#csp) nonce for manually included links and scripts, if used
 - `error.html` (optional) is the page that is rendered when everything else fails. It can contain the following placeholders:
   - `%sveltekit.status%` — the HTTP status
-  - `%sveltekit.message%` — the error message
+  - `%sveltekit.error.message%` — the error message
 - `hooks.js` (optional) contains your application's [hooks](/docs/hooks)
 - `service-worker.js` (optional) contains your [service worker](/docs/service-workers)
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/config/default-error.html b/packages/kit/src/core/config/default-error.html
index eae4dbc89673..665b091bcf15 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/config/default-error.html
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/config/default-error.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <html lang="en">
 	<head>
 		<meta charset="utf-8" />
-		<title>%sveltekit.message%</title>
+		<title>%sveltekit.error.message%</title>
 
 		<style>
 			body {
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 		<div class="error">
 			<span class="status">%sveltekit.status%</span>
 			<div class="message">
-				<h1>%sveltekit.message%</h1>
+				<h1>%sveltekit.error.message%</h1>
 			</div>
 		</div>
 	</body>
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_server.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_server.js
index e8a9d8eb19d9..c504764a1b10 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_server.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_server.js
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ const app_template = ({ head, body, assets, nonce }) => ${s(template)
 
 const error_template = ({ status, message }) => ${s(error_page)
 	.replace(/%sveltekit\.status%/g, '" + status + "')
-	.replace(/%sveltekit\.message%/g, '" + message + "')};
+	.replace(/%sveltekit\.error\.message%/g, '" + message + "')};
 
 let read = null;
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
index c78c024034a6..c465b2b34226 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ export async function dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config) {
 						error_template: ({ status, message }) => {
 							return error_page
 								.replace(/%sveltekit\.status%/g, String(status))
-								.replace(/%sveltekit\.message%/g, message);
+								.replace(/%sveltekit\.error\.message%/g, message);
 						},
 						trailing_slash: svelte_config.kit.trailingSlash
 					},
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/error.html b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/error.html
index 14d6424789f9..4782559eda7a 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/error.html
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/error.html
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@
 	</head>
 	<body>
 		<h1>Error - %sveltekit.status%</h1>
-		<p>This is the static error page with the following message: %sveltekit.message%</p>
+		<p>This is the static error page with the following message: %sveltekit.error.message%</p>
 	</body>
 </html>
