diff --git a/Common/Serialize/Serializer.h b/Common/Serialize/Serializer.h
index d002e64b30..255de352d0 100644
--- a/Common/Serialize/Serializer.h
+++ b/Common/Serialize/Serializer.h
@@ -200,7 +200,8 @@ public:
 		ERROR_BAD_ALLOC,
 	};
 
-	// May fail badly if ptr doesn't point to valid data.
+	// May fail badly if ptr doesn't point to valid data. On failure, errorString is the title of the
+	// section that failed.
 	template<class T>
 	static Error LoadPtr(u8 *ptr, size_t size, T &_class, std::string *errorString)
 	{
@@ -211,8 +212,7 @@ public:
 		if (p.error != p.ERROR_FAILURE) {
 			return ERROR_NONE;
 		} else {
-			std::string badSectionTitle = p.GetBadSectionTitle() ? p.GetBadSectionTitle() : "(unknown bad section)";
-			*errorString = std::string("Failure at ") + badSectionTitle;
+			*errorString = p.GetBadSectionTitle() ? p.GetBadSectionTitle() : "unknown section";
 			return ERROR_BROKEN_STATE;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/Core/SaveState.cpp b/Core/SaveState.cpp
index 47a9314598..82a890a2ba 100644
--- a/Core/SaveState.cpp
+++ b/Core/SaveState.cpp
@@ -974,9 +974,12 @@ int g_screenshotFailures;
 					g_lastSaveTime = time_now_d();
 				} else if (result == CChunkFileReader::ERROR_BROKEN_STATE) {
 					HandleLoadFailure(false, &callbackMetadata);
-					callbackMessage = std::string(i18nLoadFailure) + ": " + errorString;
-					callbackMetadata = SavedByVersion(op.path);
-					ERROR_LOG(Log::SaveState, "Load state failure: %s (saved by %s)", errorString.c_str(), callbackMetadata.c_str());
+					// The file was fine, its contents weren't: almost always a state from another version.
+					// errorString is the section that failed.
+					callbackMessage = sc->T("LoadStateWrongVersion", i18nLoadFailure);
+					const std::string version = SavedByVersion(op.path);
+					callbackMetadata = version.empty() ? "(" + errorString + ")" : version + " (" + errorString + ")";
+					ERROR_LOG(Log::SaveState, "Load state failure at %s (saved by %s)", errorString.c_str(), version.c_str());
 					callbackResult = Status::FAILURE;
 				} else {
 					callbackMessage = errorString.empty() ? std::string(i18nLoadFailure) : std::string(sc->T(errorString, i18nLoadFailure));
@@ -1052,11 +1055,11 @@ int g_screenshotFailures;
 						hasLoadedState = true;
 						Core_ResetException();
 					} else {
-						callbackMessage = std::string(i18nLoadFailure) + ": " + errorString;
+						callbackMessage = std::string(i18nLoadFailure) + " (" + errorString + ")";
 						callbackResult = Status::FAILURE;
 					}
 				} else {
-					callbackMessage = std::string(i18nLoadFailure) + ": " + errorString;
+					callbackMessage = i18nLoadFailure;
 					callbackResult = Status::FAILURE;
 				}
 				break;
diff --git a/UI/EmuScreen.cpp b/UI/EmuScreen.cpp
index 2727e5e1af..8eb5a6efe6 100644
--- a/UI/EmuScreen.cpp
+++ b/UI/EmuScreen.cpp
@@ -1768,7 +1768,7 @@ ScreenRenderFlags EmuScreen::RunEmulation(bool skipBufferEffects) {
 		} else if (PSP_CoreParameter().frozen) {
 			std::string errorString;
 			if (CChunkFileReader::ERROR_NONE != SaveState::LoadFromRam(freezeState_, &errorString)) {
-				ERROR_LOG(Log::SaveState, "Failed to load freeze state (%s). Unfreezing.", errorString.c_str());
+				ERROR_LOG(Log::SaveState, "Failed to load freeze state (failure at %s). Unfreezing.", errorString.c_str());
 				PSP_CoreParameter().frozen = false;
 			}
 		}