diff --git a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/apply.ts b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/apply.ts
index 05cfbe3d27..72c440a922 100644
--- a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/apply.ts
+++ b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/apply.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ import { TransformFunc } from './types';
 import { isObject } from './utils';
 
 /**
- * Reads and parses, and validates, and transforms a single config file.
- * The transformation rewrites any special values, like the $secret key.
+ * Applies a set of transforms to raw configuration data.
  */
 export async function applyConfigTransforms(
   initialDir: string,
diff --git a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.test.ts b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.test.ts
index 4aea445ca9..564326aefc 100644
--- a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.test.ts
+++ b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.test.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@ describe('includeTransform', () => {
   it('should reject invalid includes', async () => {
     await expect(
       includeTransform({ $include: 'no-parser.js' }, '/'),
-    ).rejects.toThrow('no configuration parser available for extension .js');
+    ).rejects.toThrow(
+      'no configuration parser available for included file no-parser.js',
+    );
     await expect(
       includeTransform({ $include: 'no-data.yml#different.key' }, '/'),
     ).rejects.toThrow('File not found!');
diff --git a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.ts b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.ts
index af476bc2e1..1a6963672a 100644
--- a/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.ts
+++ b/packages/config-loader/src/lib/transform/include.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const includeFileParser: {
 };
 
 /**
- * Transforms a secret description into the actual secret value.
+ * Transforms a include description into the actual included value.
  */
 export function createIncludeTransform(
   env: EnvFunc,
@@ -41,40 +41,40 @@ export function createIncludeTransform(
       return { applied: false };
     }
     // Check if there's any key that starts with a '$', in that case we treat
-    // this entire object as a secret.
-    const [secretKey] = Object.keys(input).filter(key => key.startsWith('$'));
-    if (secretKey) {
+    // this entire object as an include description.
+    const [includeKey] = Object.keys(input).filter(key => key.startsWith('$'));
+    if (includeKey) {
       if (Object.keys(input).length !== 1) {
         throw new Error(
-          `include key ${secretKey} should not have adjacent keys`,
+          `include key ${includeKey} should not have adjacent keys`,
         );
       }
     } else {
       return { applied: false };
     }
 
-    const secretValue = input[secretKey];
-    if (typeof secretValue !== 'string') {
-      throw new Error(`${secretKey} include value is not a string`);
+    const includeValue = input[includeKey];
+    if (typeof includeValue !== 'string') {
+      throw new Error(`${includeKey} include value is not a string`);
     }
 
-    switch (secretKey) {
+    switch (includeKey) {
       case '$file':
         try {
-          const value = await readFile(resolvePath(baseDir, secretValue));
+          const value = await readFile(resolvePath(baseDir, includeValue));
           return { applied: true, value };
         } catch (error) {
-          throw new Error(`failed to read file ${secretValue}, ${error}`);
+          throw new Error(`failed to read file ${includeValue}, ${error}`);
         }
       case '$env':
         try {
-          return { applied: true, value: await env(secretValue) };
+          return { applied: true, value: await env(includeValue) };
         } catch (error) {
-          throw new Error(`failed to read env ${secretValue}, ${error}`);
+          throw new Error(`failed to read env ${includeValue}, ${error}`);
         }
 
       case '$include': {
-        const [filePath, dataPath] = secretValue.split(/#(.*)/);
+        const [filePath, dataPath] = includeValue.split(/#(.*)/);
 
         const ext = extname(filePath);
         const parser = includeFileParser[ext];
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ export function createIncludeTransform(
       }
 
       default:
-        throw new Error(`unknown secret ${secretKey}`);
+        throw new Error(`unknown include ${includeKey}`);
     }
   };
 }