diff --git a/packages/metro/src/HmrServer/__tests__/HmrServer-test.js b/packages/metro/src/HmrServer/__tests__/HmrServer-test.js
index cf6fa15e36..ac926db4d5 100644
--- a/packages/metro/src/HmrServer/__tests__/HmrServer-test.js
+++ b/packages/metro/src/HmrServer/__tests__/HmrServer-test.js
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ describe('HmrServer', () => {
         message: 'test syntax error',
         errors: [
           {
+            description: 'test syntax error',
             filename: 'EntryPoint.js',
             lineNumber: 123,
           },
diff --git a/packages/metro/src/JSTransformer/__tests__/Transformer-test.js b/packages/metro/src/JSTransformer/__tests__/Transformer-test.js
index 654a336422..181581da0d 100644
--- a/packages/metro/src/JSTransformer/__tests__/Transformer-test.js
+++ b/packages/metro/src/JSTransformer/__tests__/Transformer-test.js
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ describe('Transformer', function() {
         const babelError = new SyntaxError(message);
 
         babelError.type = 'SyntaxError';
-        babelError.description = message;
         babelError.loc = {line: 2, column: 15};
         babelError.codeFrame = snippet;
 
diff --git a/packages/metro/src/Server/__tests__/Server-test.js b/packages/metro/src/Server/__tests__/Server-test.js
index 3510b5d539..25f786a5be 100644
--- a/packages/metro/src/Server/__tests__/Server-test.js
+++ b/packages/metro/src/Server/__tests__/Server-test.js
@@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ describe('processRequest', () => {
             message: 'test syntax error',
           });
           expect(body.errors).toContainEqual({
+            description: 'test syntax error',
             filename: 'testFile.js',
             lineNumber: 123,
           });
diff --git a/packages/metro/src/lib/formatBundlingError.js b/packages/metro/src/lib/formatBundlingError.js
index 3bbdf9afe3..6a7155b505 100644
--- a/packages/metro/src/lib/formatBundlingError.js
+++ b/packages/metro/src/lib/formatBundlingError.js
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ const {
 export type CustomError = Error & {|
   status?: number,
   type?: string,
-  description?: string,
   filename?: string,
   lineNumber?: number,
   errors?: Array<{
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ function formatBundlingError(
   ) {
     error.errors = [
       {
-        description: error.description,
+        description: error.message,
         filename: error.filename,
         lineNumber: error.lineNumber,
       },