diff --git a/spec/arguments_spec.lua b/spec/arguments_spec.lua
index 6185d8d..8a1dbef 100644
--- a/spec/arguments_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/arguments_spec.lua
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
          local parser = Parser()
          parser:argument "foo"
 
-         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "argument 'foo' is required")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "missing argument 'foo'")
       end)
 
       it("handles extra arguments with several arguments correctly", function()
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
          parser:argument "foo1"
          parser:argument "foo2"
 
-         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{"bar"} end, "argument 'foo2' is required")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{"bar"} end, "missing argument 'foo2'")
       end)
 
       it("handles too few arguments with multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
          parser:argument "foo" {
             args = "+"
          }
-         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "argument 'foo' is required")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "missing argument 'foo'")
       end)
 
       it("handles too many arguments with multi-argument correctly", function()
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ describe("tests related to positional arguments", function()
          parser:argument "foo2" {
             args = "*"
          }
-         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "argument 'foo1' is required")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "missing argument 'foo1'")
       end)
    end)
 end)
diff --git a/spec/integrity_spec.lua b/spec/integrity_spec.lua
index d473ac9..1817074 100644
--- a/spec/integrity_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/integrity_spec.lua
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe("tests related to CLI behaviour #unsafe", function()
          assert.equal([[
 Usage: ]]..script..[[ [-v] [-h] <input> [<command>] ...
 
-Error: argument 'input' is required
+Error: missing argument 'input'
 ]], get_output(""))
       end)
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ Did you mean 'install'?
          assert.equal([[
 Usage: ]]..script..[[ install [-f <from>] [-h] <rock> [<version>]
 
-Error: argument 'rock' is required
+Error: missing argument 'rock'
 ]], get_output("foo install"))
       end)
 
diff --git a/spec/options_spec.lua b/spec/options_spec.lua
index 3ebfdff..31363e8 100644
--- a/spec/options_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/options_spec.lua
@@ -298,7 +298,8 @@ describe("tests related to options", function()
          parser:option "-f" "--foo" {
             count = "3-4"
          }
-         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{"-fFOO", "-fBAR"} end, "option '-f' must be used at least 3 times")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{"-fFOO", "--foo=BAR"} end, "option '--foo' must be used at least 3 times")
+         assert.has_error(function() parser:parse{} end, "missing option '-f'")
       end)
    end)
 end)
diff --git a/spec/pparse_spec.lua b/spec/pparse_spec.lua
index b72abd6..7994bc4 100644
--- a/spec/pparse_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/pparse_spec.lua
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ describe("tests related to :pparse()", function()
       parser:argument "foo"
       local ok, errmsg = parser:pparse{}
       assert.is_false(ok)
-      assert.equal("argument 'foo' is required", errmsg)
+      assert.equal("missing argument 'foo'", errmsg)
    end)
 
    it("rethrows errors from callbacks", function()
diff --git a/src/argparse.lua b/src/argparse.lua
index 8c652c4..7e762bb 100644
--- a/src/argparse.lua
+++ b/src/argparse.lua
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ function ElementState:close()
          else
             if #self.args == 0 then
                if getmetatable(self.element) == Argument then
-                  self:error("%s is required", self.name)
+                  self:error("missing %s", self.name)
                elseif self.element._maxargs == 1 then
                   self:error("%s requires an argument", self.name)
                end
@@ -996,6 +996,8 @@ function ParseState:finalize()
                option:invoke(name)
                option:close()
             end
+         elseif option.invocations == 0 then
+            self:error("missing %s", name)
          else
             self:error("%s must be used %s", name, bound("time", mincount, option.element._maxcount))
          end