diff --git a/src/database/graph_db.cpp b/src/database/graph_db.cpp
index aa01ef2e3..29847c254 100644
--- a/src/database/graph_db.cpp
+++ b/src/database/graph_db.cpp
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ GraphDb::GraphDb(const std::string &name, const fs::path &snapshot_db_dir)
 
   if (FLAGS_query_execution_time_sec != -1) {
     transaction_killer_.Run(
-        std::chrono::seconds(std::max(1, FLAGS_query_execution_time_sec / 4)),
+        std::chrono::seconds(
+            std::max(1, std::min(5, FLAGS_query_execution_time_sec / 4))),
         [this]() {
           tx_engine_.ForEachActiveTransaction([](tx::Transaction &t) {
             if (t.creation_time() +
diff --git a/src/query/exceptions.hpp b/src/query/exceptions.hpp
index de81da0ab..05848a2b8 100644
--- a/src/query/exceptions.hpp
+++ b/src/query/exceptions.hpp
@@ -63,13 +63,16 @@ class TypeMismatchError : public SemanticException {
 class HintedAbortError : public QueryException {
  public:
   using QueryException::QueryException;
-  HintedAbortError() : QueryException("") {}
+  HintedAbortError()
+      : QueryException(
+            "Transaction was asked to abort, most likely because it was "
+            "executing longer than time specified by "
+            "--query-execution-time-sec flag") {}
 };
 
 class UnprovidedParameterError : public QueryException {
  public:
   using QueryException::QueryException;
-  UnprovidedParameterError() : QueryException("") {}
 };
 
 /**