diff --git a/src/nvim/eval/funcs.c b/src/nvim/eval/funcs.c
index b36fd15516..bff1c11540 100644
--- a/src/nvim/eval/funcs.c
+++ b/src/nvim/eval/funcs.c
@@ -3995,7 +3995,7 @@ void f_jobstart(typval_T *argvars, typval_T *rettv, EvalFuncData fptr)
     dictitem_T *const job_term = tv_dict_find(job_opts, S_LEN("term"));
     if (job_term && VAR_BOOL != job_term->di_tv.v_type) {
       // Restrict "term" field to boolean, in case we want to allow buffer numbers in the future.
-      semsg(_(e_invarg2), "'term' must Boolean");
+      semsg(_(e_invarg2), "'term' must be Boolean");
       shell_free_argv(argv);
       return;
     }
diff --git a/test/functional/core/job_spec.lua b/test/functional/core/job_spec.lua
index 7820ee7e1e..c99b5cb15a 100644
--- a/test/functional/core/job_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/core/job_spec.lua
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ describe('jobs', function()
       pcall_err(command, "let j = jobstart(['cat', '-'], { 'cwd': 'bogusssssss/bogus' })")
     )
     matches(
-      "E475: Invalid argument: 'term' must Boolean",
+      "E475: Invalid argument: 'term' must be Boolean",
       pcall_err(command, "let j = jobstart(['cat', '-'], { 'term': 'bogus' })")
     )
     matches(
-      "E475: Invalid argument: 'term' must Boolean",
+      "E475: Invalid argument: 'term' must be Boolean",
       pcall_err(command, "let j = jobstart(['cat', '-'], { 'term': 1 })")
     )
     command("let j = jobstart(['cat', '-'], { 'term': v:true })")