diff --git a/cmd/testwrapper/flakytest/flakytest_test.go b/cmd/testwrapper/flakytest/flakytest_test.go
index 207a27de7..85e77a939 100644
--- a/cmd/testwrapper/flakytest/flakytest_test.go
+++ b/cmd/testwrapper/flakytest/flakytest_test.go
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ func TestIssueFormat(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestFlakeRun is a test that fails when run in the testwrapper
+// for the first time, but succeeds on the second run.
+// It's used to test whether the testwrapper retries flaky tests.
 func TestFlakeRun(t *testing.T) {
 	Mark(t, "https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale/issues/0") // random issue
 	e := os.Getenv(FlakeAttemptEnv)
@@ -35,6 +38,6 @@ func TestFlakeRun(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skip("not running in testwrapper")
 	}
 	if e == "1" {
-		t.Fatal("failing on purpose")
+		t.Fatal("First run in testwrapper, failing so that test is retried. This is expected.")
 	}
 }