diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/config/schema.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/config/schema.ts
index e0ddeb268..da737ebc0 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/config/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/config/schema.ts
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ export function createRelativeSchema(cmd: string, fileProtocolRoot: string) {
 		})
 		.refine((obj) => !obj.outDir.toString().startsWith(obj.publicDir.toString()), {
 			message:
-				'`outDir` must not be placed inside `publicDir` to prevent an infinite loop. Please adjust the directory configuration and try again',
+				'The value of `outDir` must not point to a path within the folder set as `publicDir`, this will cause an infinite loop',
 		});
 
 	return AstroConfigRelativeSchema;
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/units/config/config-validate.test.js b/packages/astro/test/units/config/config-validate.test.js
index 604836747..48088468a 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/units/config/config-validate.test.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/units/config/config-validate.test.js
@@ -74,8 +74,7 @@ describe('Config Validation', () => {
 		);
 		expect(configError instanceof z.ZodError).to.equal(true);
 		expect(configError.errors[0].message).to.equal(
-			'`outDir` must not be placed inside `publicDir` to prevent an infinite loop. \
-Please adjust the directory configuration and try again'
+			'The value of `outDir` must not point to a path within the folder set as `publicDir`, this will cause an infinite loop'
 		);
 	});
 });