diff --git a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/renderer.rb b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/renderer.rb
index 44ee00a23..3b4f08201 100644
--- a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/renderer.rb
+++ b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/renderer.rb
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@
 module KubernetesDeploy
   class Renderer
     class InvalidPartialError < InvalidTemplateError
-      attr_reader :parents, :content, :filename
+      attr_accessor :parents, :content, :filename
       def initialize(msg, parents: [], content: nil, filename:)
         @parents = parents
         super(msg, content: content, filename: filename)
       end
     end
-    class PartialNotFound < InvalidPartialError; end
+    class PartialNotFound < InvalidTemplateError; end
 
     def initialize(current_sha:, template_dir:, logger:, bindings: {})
       @current_sha = current_sha
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ def render_template(filename, raw_template)
 
       ERB.new(raw_template, nil, '-').result(erb_binding)
     rescue InvalidPartialError => err
-      all_parents = err.parents.dup.unshift(filename)
-      raise InvalidTemplateError.new(err.message,
-        filename: "#{err.filename} (partial included from: #{all_parents.join(' -> ')})", content: err.content)
+      err.parents = err.parents.dup.unshift(filename)
+      err.filename = "#{err.filename} (partial included from: #{err.parents.join(' -> ')})"
+      raise err
     rescue StandardError => err
       raise InvalidTemplateError.new(err.message, filename: filename, content: raw_template)
     end
@@ -60,10 +60,12 @@ def render_partial(partial, locals)
       # Note that JSON is a subset of YAML.
       JSON.generate(docs.children.first.to_ruby)
     rescue PartialNotFound => err
-      raise InvalidPartialError.new(err.message, filename: err.filename)
+      # get the filename from the first parent, not the missing partial itself
+      raise err if err.filename == partial
+      raise InvalidPartialError.new(err.message, filename: partial, content: expanded_template || template)
     rescue InvalidPartialError => err
-      parents = err.parents.dup.unshift(File.basename(partial_path))
-      raise InvalidPartialError.new(err.message, parents: parents, filename: err.filename, content: err.content)
+      err.parents = err.parents.dup.unshift(File.basename(partial_path))
+      raise err
     rescue StandardError => err
       raise InvalidPartialError.new(err.message, filename: partial_path, content: expanded_template || template)
     end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/include-missing-partials.yml.erb b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/include-missing-partials.yml.erb
deleted file mode 100644
index 809ff18d0..000000000
--- a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/include-missing-partials.yml.erb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<%= partial 'nest-missing-partial' %>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..935856999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<%= partial 'does-not-exist' %>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-grandchild.yml.erb b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-grandchild.yml.erb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b24195829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/parent-with-missing-grandchild.yml.erb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<%= partial 'parent-with-missing-child' %>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/nest-missing-partial.yml.erb b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/nest-missing-partial.yml.erb
deleted file mode 100644
index 395ab96ea..000000000
--- a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/nest-missing-partial.yml.erb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-<%= partial 'missing' %>
diff --git a/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..935856999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/missing-partials/partials/parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<%= partial 'does-not-exist' %>
diff --git a/test/helpers/fixture_deploy_helper.rb b/test/helpers/fixture_deploy_helper.rb
index 49f234851..f59f507ad 100644
--- a/test/helpers/fixture_deploy_helper.rb
+++ b/test/helpers/fixture_deploy_helper.rb
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ def deploy_raw_fixtures(set, wait: true, bindings: {}, subset: nil)
     success = false
     if subset
       Dir.mktmpdir("fixture_dir") do |target_dir|
+        partials_dir = File.join(fixture_path(set), 'partials')
+        if File.directory?(partials_dir)
+          FileUtils.copy_entry(partials_dir, File.join(target_dir, 'partials'))
+        end
+
         subset.each do |file|
           FileUtils.copy_entry(File.join(fixture_path(set), file), File.join(target_dir, file))
         end
diff --git a/test/integration/kubernetes_deploy_test.rb b/test/integration/kubernetes_deploy_test.rb
index b43615ed2..ca71c5196 100644
--- a/test/integration/kubernetes_deploy_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/kubernetes_deploy_test.rb
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ def test_success_with_unrecognized_resource_type
   end
 
   def test_invalid_yaml_fails_fast
-    refute deploy_dir(fixture_path("invalid"))
+    assert_deploy_failure(deploy_dir(fixture_path("invalid")))
     assert_logs_match_all([
       "Failed to render and parse template",
       "Invalid template: yaml-error.yml",
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ def test_invalid_yaml_fails_fast
   end
 
   def test_invalid_yaml_in_partial_prints_helpful_error
-    refute deploy_raw_fixtures("invalid-partials")
+    assert_deploy_failure(deploy_raw_fixtures("invalid-partials"))
     included_from = "partial included from: include-invalid-partial.yml.erb"
     assert_logs_match_all([
       "Result: FAILURE",
@@ -172,18 +172,32 @@ def test_invalid_yaml_in_partial_prints_helpful_error
     assert_logs_match("Error message:", 1)
   end
 
-  def test_missing_nested_partial_prints_helpful_error
-    refute deploy_raw_fixtures("missing-partials")
-    included_from = "partial included from: include-missing-partials.yml.erb -> nest-missing-partial.yml.erb"
+  def test_missing_partial_correctly_identifies_invalid_template
+    assert_deploy_failure(deploy_raw_fixtures("missing-partials", subset: ["parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb"]))
+
     assert_logs_match_all([
       "Result: FAILURE",
       "Failed to render and parse template",
-      "Invalid template: missing (#{included_from})",
+      "Invalid template: parent-with-missing-child.yml.erb", # the thing with the invalid `partial` call in it
       "> Error message:",
-      %r{Could not find partial 'missing' in any of.*fixtures/missing-partials/partials:.*/fixtures/partials}
+      %r{Could not find partial 'does-not-exist' in any of .*fixture_dir[^/]*/partials:.*/partials},
+      "> Template content:",
+      "<%= partial 'does-not-exist' %>",
     ], in_order: true)
+  end
 
-    refute_logs_match("Template content")
+  def test_missing_nested_partial_correctly_identifies_invalid_template_and_its_parents
+    assert_deploy_failure(deploy_raw_fixtures("missing-partials", subset: ["parent-with-missing-grandchild.yml.erb"]))
+
+    assert_logs_match_all([
+      "Result: FAILURE",
+      "Failed to render and parse template",
+      "Invalid template: parent-with-missing-child (partial included from: parent-with-missing-grandchild.yml.erb)",
+      "> Error message:",
+      %r{Could not find partial 'does-not-exist' in any of .*fixture_dir[^/]*/partials:.*/partials},
+      "> Template content:",
+      "<%= partial 'does-not-exist' %>"
+    ], in_order: true)
   end
 
   def test_invalid_k8s_spec_that_is_valid_yaml_fails_fast_and_prints_template
diff --git a/test/unit/kubernetes-deploy/renderer_test.rb b/test/unit/kubernetes-deploy/renderer_test.rb
index 2b7bee319..dd0edcf50 100644
--- a/test/unit/kubernetes-deploy/renderer_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/kubernetes-deploy/renderer_test.rb
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ def test_non_existent_partial_raises
     end
     base = "Could not find partial 'foobarbaz' in any of"
     assert_match %r{#{base} .*/fixtures/for_unit_tests/partials:.*/fixtures/partials}, err.message
-    assert_equal "foobarbaz (partial included from: including-non-existent-partial.yaml.erb)", err.filename
-    assert_nil err.content
+    assert_equal "including-non-existent-partial.yaml.erb", err.filename
+    assert_equal "---\n<%= partial 'foobarbaz' %>\n", err.content
   end
 
   def test_nesting_fields