diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
index db91c55526..531651823b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/mgr.rs
@@ -1011,7 +1011,7 @@ impl TenantManager {
                 // safely be recreated next time this tenant location is configured.
                 tokio::fs::create_dir_all(&timelines_path)
                     .await
-                    .with_context(|| format!("Creating {tenant_path}"))?;
+                    .with_context(|| format!("Creating {timelines_path}"))?;
 
                 Tenant::persist_tenant_config(self.conf, &tenant_shard_id, &new_location_config)
                     .await