diff --git a/internal/config/validate.go b/internal/config/validate.go
index d2a54fef0..772cd03d9 100644
--- a/internal/config/validate.go
+++ b/internal/config/validate.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func Validate() error {
 			SetAccountDomain(GetHost())
 		} else if !dns.IsSubDomain(ad, host) {
 			errf("%s %s is not a valid subdomain of %s %s",
-				AccountDomainFlag, ad, HostFlag, host)
+				HostFlag, host, AccountDomainFlag, ad)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/config/validate_test.go b/internal/config/validate_test.go
index fb20ea0fb..c76006e1d 100644
--- a/internal/config/validate_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/validate_test.go
@@ -77,10 +77,10 @@ func (suite *ConfigValidateTestSuite) TestValidateAccountDomainNotSubdomain1() {
 	testrig.InitTestConfig()
 
 	config.SetHost("gts.example.org")
-	config.SetAccountDomain("example.com")
+	config.SetAccountDomain("somethingelse.com")
 
 	err := config.Validate()
-	suite.EqualError(err, "account-domain example.com is not a valid subdomain of host gts.example.org")
+	suite.EqualError(err, "host gts.example.org is not a valid subdomain of account-domain somethingelse.com")
 }
 
 func (suite *ConfigValidateTestSuite) TestValidateAccountDomainNotSubdomain2() {
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func (suite *ConfigValidateTestSuite) TestValidateAccountDomainNotSubdomain2() {
 	config.SetAccountDomain("gts.example.org")
 
 	err := config.Validate()
-	suite.EqualError(err, "account-domain gts.example.org is not a valid subdomain of host example.org")
+	suite.EqualError(err, "host example.org is not a valid subdomain of account-domain gts.example.org")
 }
 
 func (suite *ConfigValidateTestSuite) TestValidateConfigNoProtocol() {