diff --git a/lib/mixlib/install/options.rb b/lib/mixlib/install/options.rb
index 5b6a6af2..bfccf2bc 100644
--- a/lib/mixlib/install/options.rb
+++ b/lib/mixlib/install/options.rb
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ def validate_user_agent_headers
       def validate_platform_options
         unless all_or_none?(platform_info.values)
           errors << <<-EOS
-Must provide platform, platform version and architecture when specifying any platform details
+Must provide platform (-p), platform version (-l) and architecture (-a) when specifying any platform details
           EOS
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/functional/mixlib/install/cli_spec.rb b/spec/functional/mixlib/install/cli_spec.rb
index d57910d2..d839a190 100644
--- a/spec/functional/mixlib/install/cli_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/functional/mixlib/install/cli_spec.rb
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@
       let(:architecture) { nil }
 
       it "fails with missing args error" do
-        expect(last_command_started).to have_output /Must provide platform, platform version and architecture when specifying any platform details/
+        expect(last_command_started).to have_output /Must provide platform (-p), platform version (-l) and architecture (-a) when specifying any platform details/
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/unit/mixlib/install/options_spec.rb b/spec/unit/mixlib/install/options_spec.rb
index 112ab3ca..d0631dbe 100644
--- a/spec/unit/mixlib/install/options_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/mixlib/install/options_spec.rb
@@ -91,14 +91,14 @@
       let(:platform) { "ubuntu" }
 
       it "raises platform options error" do
-        expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, platform: platform) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform, platform version and architecture/)
+        expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, platform: platform) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform \(-p\), platform version \(-l\) and architecture \(-a\) when specifying any platform details/)
       end
 
       context "and with platform version" do
         let(:platform_version) { "14.04" }
 
         it "raises platform options error" do
-          expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, platform: platform, platform_version: platform_version) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform, platform version and architecture/)
+          expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, platform: platform, platform_version: platform_version) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform \(-p\), platform version \(-l\) and architecture \(-a\) when specifying any platform details/)
         end
       end
     end
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
       let(:architecture) { "i386" }
 
       it "raises platform options error" do
-        expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, architecture: architecture) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform, platform version and architecture/)
+        expect { Mixlib::Install.new(product_name: product_name, channel: channel, architecture: architecture) }.to raise_error(Mixlib::Install::Options::InvalidOptions, /Must provide platform \(-p\), platform version \(-l\) and architecture \(-a\) when specifying any platform details/)
       end
     end
   end