diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
index d81adfd419c5de..613a15187a6d47 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionException.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public ActionExecutionException(
       ActionAnalysisMetadata action,
       boolean catastrophe,
       DetailedExitCode detailedExitCode) {
-    super(combineMessages(message, cause), cause);
+    super(message, cause);
     this.action = action;
     this.catastrophe = catastrophe;
     this.detailedExitCode = checkNotNull(detailedExitCode);
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public ActionExecutionException(
       NestedSet<Cause> rootCauses,
       boolean catastrophe,
       DetailedExitCode detailedExitCode) {
-    super(combineMessages(message, cause), cause);
+    super(message, cause);
     this.action = action;
     this.rootCauses = rootCauses;
     this.catastrophe = catastrophe;
@@ -203,12 +203,4 @@ public DetailedExitCode getDetailedExitCode() {
   public boolean showError() {
     return getMessage() != null;
   }
-
-  @Nullable
-  private static String combineMessages(String message, @Nullable Throwable cause) {
-    if (cause == null || cause.getMessage() == null) {
-      return message;
-    }
-    return message + ": " + cause.getMessage();
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
index 9c25d0e568748e..6b37fd0dd102c2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/SkyframeActionExecutor.java
@@ -1593,7 +1593,11 @@ private ActionExecutionException toActionExecutionException(
     } else {
       ex = new ActionExecutionException(message, cause, action, false, code);
     }
-    printError(ex.getMessage(), action, actionOutput);
+    String reportMessage = ex.getMessage();
+    if (cause != null && cause.getMessage() != null) {
+      reportMessage += ": " + cause.getMessage();
+    }
+    printError(reportMessage, action, actionOutput);
     return ex;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 8fc50ff9e2f20b..00000000000000
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/ActionExecutionExceptionTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2018 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions;
-
-import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
-
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.util.ActionsTestUtil;
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.util.TestAction.DummyAction;
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.server.FailureDetails.Execution;
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.server.FailureDetails.FailureDetail;
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.util.DetailedExitCode;
-import org.junit.Test;
-import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
-import org.junit.runners.JUnit4;
-
-/** {@link ActionExecutionException}Test */
-@RunWith(JUnit4.class)
-public final class ActionExecutionExceptionTest {
-
-  @Test
-  public void containsCauseMessage() {
-    Exception e =
-        new ActionExecutionException(
-            "message",
-            new Exception("cause"),
-            new DummyAction(ActionsTestUtil.DUMMY_ARTIFACT, ActionsTestUtil.DUMMY_ARTIFACT),
-            false,
-            DetailedExitCode.of(
-                FailureDetail.newBuilder().setExecution(Execution.getDefaultInstance()).build()));
-    assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().contains("message");
-    assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().contains("cause");
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
index 802d962ee57000..4820e181885906 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/BUILD
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ java_library(
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/testutils",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/testutils:depsutils",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util",
-        "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:detailed_exit_code",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:filetype",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util:string",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/vfs",