diff --git a/tests/test_pass_from_spec.py b/tests/test_pass_from_spec.py
index 80f1a38405..525e5c9974 100644
--- a/tests/test_pass_from_spec.py
+++ b/tests/test_pass_from_spec.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import re
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from typing import Literal
 
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ def test_pass_instantiation():
         (PipelinePassSpec("simple", {}), 'requires argument "a"'),
         (
             PipelinePassSpec("simple", {"a": [1], "no": []}),
-            'Unrecognised pass arguments "no"',
+            'Provided arguments ["no"] not found in expected pass arguments ["a", "b"]',
         ),
         (PipelinePassSpec("simple", {"a": []}), "Argument must contain a value"),
         (PipelinePassSpec("simple", {"a": ["test"]}), "Incompatible types"),
@@ -96,5 +97,5 @@ def test_pass_instantiation_error(spec: PipelinePassSpec, error_msg: str):
     """
     Test all possible failure modes in pass instantiation
     """
-    with pytest.raises(Exception, match=error_msg):
+    with pytest.raises(Exception, match=re.escape(error_msg)):
         SimplePass.from_pass_spec(spec)
diff --git a/xdsl/passes.py b/xdsl/passes.py
index d7a9b8a9ce..9dfe7d0cb0 100644
--- a/xdsl/passes.py
+++ b/xdsl/passes.py
@@ -92,7 +92,12 @@ def from_pass_spec(cls: type[ModulePassT], spec: PipelinePassSpec) -> ModulePass
 
         # if not all args were removed we raise an error
         if len(spec.args) != 0:
-            raise ValueError(f'Unrecognised pass arguments "{", ".join(spec.args)}"')
+            arguments_str = ", ".join(f'"{arg}"' for arg in spec.args)
+            fields_str = ", ".join(f'"{field.name}"' for field in fields)
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Provided arguments [{arguments_str}] not found in expected pass "
+                f"arguments [{fields_str}]"
+            )
 
         # instantiate the dataclass using kwargs
         return cls(**arg_dict)