diff --git a/src/KIM/kim_param.cpp b/src/KIM/kim_param.cpp
index 99c30c4770..6473cb2ad0 100644
--- a/src/KIM/kim_param.cpp
+++ b/src/KIM/kim_param.cpp
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ void KimParam::command(int narg, char **arg)
           // Get the variable/variable_base name
           varname = std::string(arg[i++]);
           if ((varname == "split") || (varname == "list") || (varname == "explicit"))
-            error->all(FLERR, "Illegal variable name {} in 'kim param get'", varname);
+            error->all(FLERR, "Illegal variable name '{}' in 'kim param get'", varname);
         } else
           error->all(FLERR, "Wrong number of arguments in 'kim param get' command.\n"
                      "The LAMMPS variable name is mandatory");
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ void KimParam::command(int narg, char **arg)
               for (int j = 0; j < nvars; ++j, ++i) {
                 varsname[j] = std::string(arg[i]);
                 if (varsname[j] == "split" || varsname[j] == "list" || varsname[j] == "explicit")
-                  error->all(FLERR, "Illegal variable name {} in 'kim param get'", varsname[j]);
+                  error->all(FLERR, "Illegal variable name '{}' in 'kim param get'", varsname[j]);
               }
               if (i < narg) {
                 formatarg = std::string(arg[i]);
diff --git a/unittest/commands/test_kim_commands.cpp b/unittest/commands/test_kim_commands.cpp
index 0868d20a8d..988b0db69a 100644
--- a/unittest/commands/test_kim_commands.cpp
+++ b/unittest/commands/test_kim_commands.cpp
@@ -307,17 +307,17 @@ TEST_F(KimCommandsTest, kim_param)
 
     ASSERT_THAT(variable->retrieve("shift"), StrEq("2"));
 
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'list' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 list"););
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'list' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 cutoffs_1 cutoffs_2 list"););
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'split' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 split"););
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'split' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 cutoffs_1 cutoffs_2 split"););
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'explicit' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 explicit"););
-    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name in 'kim param get'.*",
+    TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Illegal variable name 'explicit' in 'kim param get'.*",
                  command("kim param get cutoffs 1:3 cutoffs_1 cutoffs_2 explicit"););
     TEST_FAILURE(".*ERROR: Wrong number of arguments in 'kim param get' "
                  "command.\nThe LAMMPS '3' variable names or 'cutoffs "