diff --git a/easybuild/framework/easyblock.py b/easybuild/framework/easyblock.py
index c806f36247..391c59e715 100644
--- a/easybuild/framework/easyblock.py
+++ b/easybuild/framework/easyblock.py
@@ -4223,7 +4223,8 @@ def install_step_spec(initial):
 
         # part 1: pre-iteration + first iteration
         steps_part1 = [
-            (FETCH_STEP, 'fetching files', [lambda x: x.fetch_step, lambda x: x.checksum_step], False),
+            (FETCH_STEP, "fetching files and verifying checksums",
+             [lambda x: x.fetch_step, lambda x: x.checksum_step], False),
             ready_step_spec(True),
             extract_step_spec,
             patch_step_spec,
diff --git a/test/framework/options.py b/test/framework/options.py
index 79221b7275..cb11dd992a 100644
--- a/test/framework/options.py
+++ b/test/framework/options.py
@@ -5524,6 +5524,7 @@ def test_stop(self):
         self.assertIn("option --stop: invalid choice: 'source' (choose from", stderr)
 
     def test_fetch(self):
+        """Test use of --fetch"""
         options = EasyBuildOptions(go_args=['--fetch'])
 
         self.assertTrue(options.options.fetch)
@@ -5547,7 +5548,7 @@ def test_fetch(self):
             stdout, _ = self._run_mock_eb(args, raise_error=True, strip=True, testing=False)
 
             patterns = [
-                r"^== fetching files\.\.\.$",
+                r"^== fetching files and verifying checksums\.\.\.$",
                 r"^== COMPLETED: Installation STOPPED successfully \(took .* secs?\)$",
             ]
             for pattern in patterns:
@@ -6682,7 +6683,7 @@ def test_sanity_check_only(self):
         stdout = self.mocked_main(args + ['--trace'], do_build=True, raise_error=True, testing=False)
 
         skipped = [
-            "fetching files",
+            "fetching files and verifying checksums",
             "creating build dir, resetting environment",
             "unpacking",
             "patching",
diff --git a/test/framework/toy_build.py b/test/framework/toy_build.py
index f76bb6942a..0a73fa95c2 100644
--- a/test/framework/toy_build.py
+++ b/test/framework/toy_build.py
@@ -3087,7 +3087,8 @@ def test_toy_build_trace(self):
 
         patterns = [
             r"^  >> installation prefix: .*/software/toy/0\.0$",
-            r"^== fetching files\.\.\.\n  >> sources:\n  >> .*/toy-0\.0\.tar\.gz \[SHA256: 44332000.*\]$",
+            r"^== fetching files and verifying checksums\.\.\.\n"
+            "  >> sources:\n  >> .*/toy-0\.0\.tar\.gz \[SHA256: 44332000.*\]$",
             r"^  >> applying patch toy-0\.0_fix-silly-typo-in-printf-statement\.patch$",
             r'\n'.join([
                 r"^  >> running shell command:",