diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1922f83400750..47fe88252a3f5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 - Refactor common parts from the Rounding class into a separate 'round' package ([#11023](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/issues/11023))
 - Disable concurrent aggs for Diversified Sampler and Sampler aggs ([#11087](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/issues/11087))
 - Made leader/follower check timeout setting dynamic ([#10528](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/10528))
+- Change error message when per shard document limit is breached ([#11312](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/11312))
 
 ### Deprecated
 
diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/MaxDocsLimitIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/MaxDocsLimitIT.java
index 385d33c359559..8321630d34229 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/MaxDocsLimitIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/MaxDocsLimitIT.java
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.opensearch.core.index.Index;
+import org.opensearch.core.index.shard.ShardId;
 import org.opensearch.core.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.MediaTypeRegistry;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@
 public class MaxDocsLimitIT extends OpenSearchIntegTestCase {
 
     private static final AtomicInteger maxDocs = new AtomicInteger();
+    private static final ShardId shardId = new ShardId(new Index("test", "_na_"), 0);
 
     public static class TestEnginePlugin extends Plugin implements EnginePlugin {
         @Override
@@ -122,7 +125,10 @@ public void testMaxDocsLimit() throws Exception {
             IllegalArgumentException.class,
             () -> client().prepareDelete("test", "any-id").get()
         );
-        assertThat(deleteError.getMessage(), containsString("Number of documents in the index can't exceed [" + maxDocs.get() + "]"));
+        assertThat(
+            deleteError.getMessage(),
+            containsString("Number of documents in shard " + shardId + " exceeds the limit of [" + maxDocs.get() + "] documents per shard")
+        );
         client().admin().indices().prepareRefresh("test").get();
         SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("test")
             .setQuery(new MatchAllQueryBuilder())
@@ -208,7 +214,16 @@ static IndexingResult indexDocs(int numRequests, int numThreads) throws Exceptio
                         assertThat(resp.status(), equalTo(RestStatus.CREATED));
                     } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
                         numFailure.incrementAndGet();
-                        assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("Number of documents in the index can't exceed [" + maxDocs.get() + "]"));
+                        assertThat(
+                            e.getMessage(),
+                            containsString(
+                                "Number of documents in shard "
+                                    + shardId
+                                    + " exceeds the limit of ["
+                                    + maxDocs.get()
+                                    + "] documents per shard"
+                            )
+                        );
                     }
                 }
             });
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
index 677bd48b0a947..88b58403a8ac6 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
@@ -1503,7 +1503,9 @@ private Exception tryAcquireInFlightDocs(Operation operation, int addingDocs) {
         final long totalDocs = indexWriter.getPendingNumDocs() + inFlightDocCount.addAndGet(addingDocs);
         if (totalDocs > maxDocs) {
             releaseInFlightDocs(addingDocs);
-            return new IllegalArgumentException("Number of documents in the index can't exceed [" + maxDocs + "]");
+            return new IllegalArgumentException(
+                "Number of documents in shard " + shardId + " exceeds the limit of [" + maxDocs + "] documents per shard"
+            );
         } else {
             return null;
         }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
index 293d3a18d120a..2792746f4d5e0 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
@@ -7867,7 +7867,9 @@ public void testMaxDocsOnPrimary() throws Exception {
                     assertNotNull(result.getFailure());
                     assertThat(
                         result.getFailure().getMessage(),
-                        containsString("Number of documents in the index can't exceed [" + maxDocs + "]")
+                        containsString(
+                            "Number of documents in shard " + shardId + " exceeds the limit of [" + maxDocs + "] documents per shard"
+                        )
                     );
                     assertThat(result.getSeqNo(), equalTo(UNASSIGNED_SEQ_NO));
                     assertThat(engine.getLocalCheckpointTracker().getMaxSeqNo(), equalTo(maxSeqNo));