diff --git a/docs/changelog/134198.yaml b/docs/changelog/134198.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..934ff7a8f2664
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/134198.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+pr: 134198
+summary: Improve `ShardLockObtainFailedException` message
+area: Store
+type: enhancement
+issues: []
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
index ddc36cc81dda1..893d3b906e148 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironment.java
@@ -1009,12 +1009,16 @@ void acquire(long timeoutInMillis, final String details) throws ShardLockObtainF
                     setDetails(details);
                 } else {
                     final Tuple<Long, String> lockDetails = this.lockDetails; // single volatile read
+                    final var stateAge = TimeValue.timeValueNanos(System.nanoTime() - lockDetails.v1());
                     final var message = format(
-                        "obtaining shard lock for [%s] timed out after [%dms], lock already held for [%s] with age [%dms]",
+                        """
+                            obtaining shard lock for [%s] timed out after [%dms]; \
+                            this shard lock is still held by a different instance of the shard and has been in state [%s] for [%s/%dms]""",
                         details,
                         timeoutInMillis,
                         lockDetails.v2(),
-                        TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(System.nanoTime() - lockDetails.v1())
+                        stateAge,
+                        stateAge.millis()
                     );
                     maybeLogThreadDump(shardId, message);
                     throw new ShardLockObtainFailedException(shardId, message);
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentTests.java
index 9a7fadad33a53..eac8a2d01e626 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeEnvironmentTests.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.arrayWithSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.empty;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.matchesPattern;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
 
 @LuceneTestCase.SuppressFileSystems("ExtrasFS") // TODO: fix test to allow extras
@@ -134,25 +135,28 @@ public void testShardLock() throws Exception {
 
             try (var mockLog = MockLog.capture(NodeEnvironment.class); var lock = env.shardLock(new ShardId(index, 0), "1")) {
                 mockLog.addExpectation(
-                    new MockLog.SeenEventExpectation(
-                        "hot threads logging",
-                        NODE_ENVIRONMENT_LOGGER_NAME,
-                        Level.DEBUG,
-                        "hot threads while failing to obtain shard lock for [foo][0]: obtaining shard lock for [2] timed out after *"
-                    )
+                    new MockLog.SeenEventExpectation("hot threads logging", NODE_ENVIRONMENT_LOGGER_NAME, Level.DEBUG, """
+                        hot threads while failing to obtain shard lock for [foo][0]: obtaining shard lock for [2] timed out after [*ms]; \
+                        this shard lock is still held by a different instance of the shard and has been in state [1] for [*/*ms]*""")
                 );
                 mockLog.addExpectation(
                     new MockLog.UnseenEventExpectation(
                         "second attempt should be suppressed due to throttling",
                         NODE_ENVIRONMENT_LOGGER_NAME,
                         Level.DEBUG,
-                        "hot threads while failing to obtain shard lock for [foo][0]: obtaining shard lock for [3] timed out after *"
+                        "*obtaining shard lock for [3] timed out*"
                     )
                 );
 
                 assertEquals(new ShardId(index, 0), lock.getShardId());
 
-                expectThrows(ShardLockObtainFailedException.class, () -> env.shardLock(new ShardId(index, 0), "2"));
+                assertThat(
+                    expectThrows(ShardLockObtainFailedException.class, () -> env.shardLock(new ShardId(index, 0), "2")).getMessage(),
+                    matchesPattern("""
+                        \\[foo]\\[0]: obtaining shard lock for \\[2] timed out after \\[0ms]; \
+                        this shard lock is still held by a different instance of the shard \
+                        and has been in state \\[1] for \\[.*/[0-9]+ms]""")
+                );
 
                 for (Path path : env.indexPaths(index)) {
                     Files.createDirectories(path.resolve("0"));