diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index 2c3bfb5a18d..54d8cab8aaa 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v7.0.0-alpha2...master[Check the HEAD d
 - Change aws_elb autodiscover provider field name from elb_listener.* to aws.elb.*. {issue}16219[16219] {pull}16402{16402}
 - Remove `AddDockerMetadata` and `AddKubernetesMetadata` processors from the `script` processor. They can still be used as normal processors in the configuration. {issue}16349[16349] {pull}16514[16514]
 - Introduce APM libbeat instrumentation, active when running the beat with ELASTIC_APM_ACTIVE=true. {pull}17938[17938]
+- Make error message about locked data path actionable. {pull}18667[18667]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go
index 9e7f929ef49..d8a24a02423 100644
--- a/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go
+++ b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ var (
 	// ErrAlreadyLocked is returned when a lock on the data path is attempted but
 	// unsuccessful because another Beat instance already has the lock on the same
 	// data path.
-	ErrAlreadyLocked = errors.New("data path already locked by another beat")
+	ErrAlreadyLocked = errors.New("data path already locked by another beat. Please make sure that multiple beats are not sharing the same data path (path.data).")
 )
 
 type locker struct {