diff --git a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGenerator.java b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGenerator.java
index d832fcad8ee..d81d230984b 100644
--- a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGenerator.java
+++ b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGenerator.java
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ public class ActivationRecordsGenerator {
                         throw new RuntimeException("Should not have ZK migrations enabled on a cluster that was " +
                             "created in KRaft mode.");
                     }
+                    logMessageBuilder.append("This is expected because this is a de-novo KRaft cluster.");
                     break;
                 case PRE_MIGRATION:
                     if (!metadataVersion.isMetadataTransactionSupported()) {
diff --git a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest.java b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest.java
index 2e01ed994bd..ae36a91e444 100644
--- a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest.java
+++ b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest.java
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ public class ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest {
         assertEquals(0, result.records().size());
 
         result = ActivationRecordsGenerator.recordsForNonEmptyLog(
-            logMsg -> assertEquals("Performing controller activation. Loaded ZK migration state of NONE.", logMsg),
+            logMsg -> assertEquals("Performing controller activation. Loaded ZK migration state of NONE. "
+                                   + "This is expected because this is a de-novo KRaft cluster.", logMsg),
             -1L,
             false,
             buildFeatureControl(MetadataVersion.IBP_3_4_IV0, Optional.empty()),
@@ -203,7 +204,8 @@ public class ActivationRecordsGeneratorTest {
 
         result = ActivationRecordsGenerator.recordsForNonEmptyLog(
             logMsg -> assertEquals("Performing controller activation. Aborting in-progress metadata " +
-                "transaction at offset 42. Loaded ZK migration state of NONE.", logMsg),
+                                   "transaction at offset 42. Loaded ZK migration state of NONE. " +
+                                   "This is expected because this is a de-novo KRaft cluster.", logMsg),
             42L,
             false,
             buildFeatureControl(MetadataVersion.IBP_3_6_IV1, Optional.empty()),