diff --git a/lib/listener/globalTimeout.js b/lib/listener/globalTimeout.js
index 3cfc4de9d..07bed2807 100644
--- a/lib/listener/globalTimeout.js
+++ b/lib/listener/globalTimeout.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const recorder = require('../recorder')
 const Config = require('../config')
 const store = require('../store')
 const debug = require('debug')('codeceptjs:timeout')
-const { TIMEOUT_ORDER, TimeoutError, TestTimeoutError } = require('../timeout')
+const { TIMEOUT_ORDER, TimeoutError, TestTimeoutError, StepTimeoutError } = require('../timeout')
 const { BeforeSuiteHook, AfterSuiteHook } = require('../mocha/hooks')
 
 module.exports = function () {
@@ -124,9 +124,17 @@ module.exports = function () {
     if (!store.timeouts) return
 
     recorder.catchWithoutStop(err => {
-      if (timeout && err instanceof TimeoutError && +Date.now() - step.startTime >= timeout) {
+      // we wrap timeout errors in a StepTimeoutError
+      // but only if global timeout is set
+      // should we wrap all timeout errors?
+      if (err instanceof TimeoutError) {
+        const testTimeoutExceeded = timeout && +Date.now() - step.startTime >= timeout
         debug('Step failed due to global test or suite timeout')
-        throw new TestTimeoutError(currentTimeout)
+        if (testTimeoutExceeded) {
+          debug('Test failed due to global test or suite timeout')
+          throw new TestTimeoutError(currentTimeout)
+        }
+        throw new StepTimeoutError(currentTimeout, step)
       }
       throw err
     })
diff --git a/lib/mocha/cli.js b/lib/mocha/cli.js
index bf54ad346..313bb8834 100644
--- a/lib/mocha/cli.js
+++ b/lib/mocha/cli.js
@@ -192,9 +192,12 @@ class Cli extends Base {
           if (lines.length > 5) {
             truncatedLines.push('...')
           }
-          err.message = '\n  ' + truncatedLines.join('\n').replace(/^/gm, '  ').trim()
+          err.message = truncatedLines.join('\n').replace(/^/gm, '  ').trim()
         }
 
+        // add new line before the message
+        err.message = '\n  ' + err.message
+
         const steps = test.steps || (test.ctx && test.ctx.test.steps)
 
         if (steps && steps.length) {
diff --git a/lib/recorder.js b/lib/recorder.js
index 97bbd9cb8..5f7dbd59b 100644
--- a/lib/recorder.js
+++ b/lib/recorder.js
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ function getTimeoutPromise(timeoutMs, taskName) {
   return [
     new Promise((done, reject) => {
       timer = setTimeout(() => {
-        reject(new TimeoutError(`Action ${taskName} was interrupted on step timeout ${timeoutMs}ms`))
+        reject(new TimeoutError(`Action ${taskName} was interrupted on timeout ${timeoutMs}ms`))
       }, timeoutMs || 2e9)
     }),
     timer,
diff --git a/lib/timeout.js b/lib/timeout.js
index 1260587ba..ba9ba43b8 100644
--- a/lib/timeout.js
+++ b/lib/timeout.js
@@ -50,9 +50,17 @@ class TestTimeoutError extends TimeoutError {
   }
 }
 
+class StepTimeoutError extends TimeoutError {
+  constructor(timeout, step) {
+    super(`Step ${step.toCode().trim()} timed out after ${timeout}s`)
+    this.name = 'StepTimeoutError'
+  }
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   TIMEOUT_ORDER,
   getCurrentTimeout,
   TimeoutError,
   TestTimeoutError,
+  StepTimeoutError,
 }
diff --git a/test/runner/timeout_test.js b/test/runner/timeout_test.js
index a3c1ffefe..ef34048bd 100644
--- a/test/runner/timeout_test.js
+++ b/test/runner/timeout_test.js
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ describe('CodeceptJS Timeouts', function () {
   it('should ignore timeouts if no timeout', done => {
     exec(config_run_config('codecept.conf.js', 'no timeout test'), (err, stdout) => {
       debug_this_test && console.log(stdout)
-      expect(stdout).not.toContain('Timeout')
+      expect(stdout).not.toContain('TimeoutError')
+      expect(stdout).not.toContain('was interrupted on')
       expect(err).toBeFalsy()
       done()
     })
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ describe('CodeceptJS Timeouts', function () {
   it('should prefer step timeout', done => {
     exec(config_run_config('codecept.conf.js', 'timeout step', true), (err, stdout) => {
       debug_this_test && console.log(stdout)
-      expect(stdout).toContain('was interrupted on step timeout 200ms')
+      expect(stdout).toContain('was interrupted on timeout 200ms')
       expect(err).toBeTruthy()
       done()
     })
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ describe('CodeceptJS Timeouts', function () {
   it('should keep timeout with steps', done => {
     exec(config_run_config('codecept.timeout.conf.js', 'timeout step', true), (err, stdout) => {
       debug_this_test && console.log(stdout)
-      expect(stdout).toContain('was interrupted on step timeout 100ms')
+      expect(stdout).toContain('was interrupted on timeout 100ms')
       expect(err).toBeTruthy()
       done()
     })