diff --git a/src/sas/system/config/config_meta.py b/src/sas/system/config/config_meta.py
index 76ccb719a8..11bc010315 100644
--- a/src/sas/system/config/config_meta.py
+++ b/src/sas/system/config/config_meta.py
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ def load_from_file_object(self, file):
                 raise Exception
 
         except Exception:
-            raise MalformedFile("Malformed version in config file, should be a string of the form 'X.Y.Z'")
+            raise MalformedFile("Malformed version in config file, should be a string of the form 'X.Y.Z[(a|b|rc)n]'")
 
         if "config_data" not in data:
             raise MalformedFile("Malformed config file - no 'config_data' key")
@@ -245,4 +245,4 @@ def __setattr__(self, key, value):
 
     def validate(self, key, value):
         """ Check whether a value conforms to the type in the schema"""
-        return self._schema[key].validate(value)
\ No newline at end of file
+        return self._schema[key].validate(value)