diff --git a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource.rb b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource.rb
index 9926cc634..1a9a57b8d 100644
--- a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource.rb
+++ b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ def deploy_failed?
     def failure_message
       messages = rollout_params[:failure_queries].map do |query|
         next unless JsonPath.new(query[:path]).first(@instance_data) == query[:value]
-        JsonPath.new(query[:error_msg_path]).first(@instance_data) if query[:error_msg_path]
+        if query[:custom_error_msg]
+          query[:custom_error_msg]
+        else
+          JsonPath.new(query[:error_msg_path]).first(@instance_data) if query[:error_msg_path]
+        end
       end.compact
       messages.present? ? messages.join("\n") : "error deploying #{id}"
     end
diff --git a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource_definition.rb b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource_definition.rb
index 27307ac1a..bfa7a6699 100644
--- a/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource_definition.rb
+++ b/lib/kubernetes-deploy/kubernetes_resource/custom_resource_definition.rb
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ def validate_params(params)
       params[:failure_queries].each do |query|
         JsonPath.new(query[:path])
         JsonPath.new(query[:error_msg_path]) if query[:error_msg_path]
+        raise RuntimeError if query[:custom_error_msg] && !query[:custom_error_msg].is_a?(String)
       end
     rescue RuntimeError => e
       raise FatalDeploymentError, "error parsing JsonPath expression for custom resource params: #{e.message}"