diff --git a/src/node/src/client.js b/src/node/src/client.js
index c65dd736503..d6aa999502c 100644
--- a/src/node/src/client.js
+++ b/src/node/src/client.js
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ function makeUnaryRequestFunction(method, serialize, deserialize) {
         }
       }
       if (status.code !== grpc.status.OK) {
-        error = new Error(response.status.details);
+        error = new Error(status.details);
         error.code = status.code;
         error.metadata = status.metadata;
         callback(error);