diff --git a/cpp/src/gandiva/gdv_function_stubs.cc b/cpp/src/gandiva/gdv_function_stubs.cc
index 6fe3fa9a57ce..ddd5df6d3923 100644
--- a/cpp/src/gandiva/gdv_function_stubs.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/gandiva/gdv_function_stubs.cc
@@ -407,8 +407,7 @@ const char* gdv_fn_aes_decrypt(int64_t context, const char* data, int32_t data_l
       static_cast<int32_t>(arrow::bit_util::RoundUpToPowerOf2(data_len, kAesBlockSize));
   char* ret = reinterpret_cast<char*>(gdv_fn_context_arena_malloc(context, *out_len));
   if (ret == nullptr) {
-    std::string err_msg =
-        "Could not allocate memory for returning aes encrypt cypher text";
+    std::string err_msg = "Could not allocate memory for returning aes decrypt plaintext";
     gdv_fn_context_set_error_msg(context, err_msg.data());
     *out_len = 0;
     return nullptr;
diff --git a/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops.cc b/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops.cc
index 035d3c8c62e1..9a2d8c8415c6 100644
--- a/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops.cc
@@ -1700,7 +1700,11 @@ FORCE_INLINE
 gdv_int32 levenshtein(int64_t context, const char* in1, int32_t in1_len, const char* in2,
                       int32_t in2_len) {
   if (in1_len < 0 || in2_len < 0) {
-    gdv_fn_context_set_error_msg(context, "String length must be greater than 0");
+    char err_msg[128];
+    snprintf(err_msg, sizeof(err_msg),
+             "LEVENSHTEIN: input lengths must be non-negative, got %d and %d", in1_len,
+             in2_len);
+    gdv_fn_context_set_error_msg(context, err_msg);
     return 0;
   }
 
@@ -1736,7 +1740,8 @@ gdv_int32 levenshtein(int64_t context, const char* in1, int32_t in1_len, const c
   int* ptr = reinterpret_cast<int*>(
       gdv_fn_context_arena_malloc(context, (len_smaller + 1) * 2 * sizeof(int)));
   if (ptr == nullptr) {
-    gdv_fn_context_set_error_msg(context, "String length must be greater than 0");
+    gdv_fn_context_set_error_msg(context,
+                                 "LEVENSHTEIN: could not allocate working memory");
     return 0;
   }
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops_test.cc b/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops_test.cc
index d57eb437530c..a31683c65ac7 100644
--- a/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/gandiva/precompiled/string_ops_test.cc
@@ -1132,7 +1132,7 @@ TEST(TestStringOps, TestLevenshtein) {
   EXPECT_EQ(levenshtein(ctx_ptr, "book", -5, "back", 4), 0);
   EXPECT_TRUE(ctx.has_error());
   EXPECT_THAT(ctx.get_error(),
-              ::testing::HasSubstr("String length must be greater than 0"));
+              ::testing::HasSubstr("LEVENSHTEIN: input lengths must be non-negative"));
   ctx.Reset();
 }