diff --git a/src/maxtext/common/checkpointing.py b/src/maxtext/common/checkpointing.py
index 8efd48a065..ba58600c07 100644
--- a/src/maxtext/common/checkpointing.py
+++ b/src/maxtext/common/checkpointing.py
@@ -973,15 +973,11 @@ def maybe_save_checkpoint(checkpoint_manager, state, config, data_iterator, step
   except elastic_utils.manager.ScaleUpSignalError as e:
     if config.elastic_enabled:
       max_logging.log(f"Elastic event detected, letting exception bubble up: {e}")
-      raise
-    else:
-      raise exceptions.StopTraining("Job is preempted.") from e
+    raise
   except jax.errors.JaxRuntimeError as e:
     if config.elastic_enabled:
       max_logging.log(f"Elastic event detected, letting exception bubble up: {e}")
-      raise
-    else:
-      raise exceptions.StopTraining("Job is preempted.") from e
+    raise
   except Exception as e:
     raise exceptions.StopTraining(f"Checkpointing failed. {str(e)}") from e
 
@@ -991,7 +987,7 @@ def maybe_save_checkpoint(checkpoint_manager, state, config, data_iterator, step
 
   # Raise exception upon preemption
   if checkpoint_manager.reached_preemption(actual_step):
-    raise exceptions.StopTraining("Job is preempted.")
+    raise exceptions.StopTraining("Job received termination signal (SIGTERM).")
 
 
 def save_checkpoint(checkpoint_manager, step, state, config=None, data_iterator=None, force=False):