diff --git a/builtin/refs.c b/builtin/refs.c
index 46dcd150d4..a51602f84b 100644
--- a/builtin/refs.c
+++ b/builtin/refs.c
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ static int cmd_refs_migrate(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, migrate_usage, 0);
 	if (argc)
-		usage(_("too many arguments"));
+		die(_("'git refs migrate' takes no arguments"));
 	if (!format_str)
-		usage(_("missing --ref-format=<format>"));
+		die(_("'git refs migrate' needs '--ref-format=<format>'"));
 
 	format = ref_storage_format_by_name(format_str);
 	if (format == REF_STORAGE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN) {
diff --git a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
index f7c0783d30..e063a98b11 100755
--- a/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
+++ b/t/t1460-refs-migrate.sh
@@ -31,20 +31,14 @@ test_expect_success "superfluous arguments" '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
 	git init repo &&
 	test_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate foo 2>err &&
-	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
-	usage: too many arguments
-	EOF
-	test_cmp expect err
+	test_grep "takes no arguments" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success "missing ref storage format" '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
 	git init repo &&
 	test_must_fail git -C repo refs migrate 2>err &&
-	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
-	usage: missing --ref-format=<format>
-	EOF
-	test_cmp expect err
+	test_grep "needs ${SQ}--ref-format=<format>${SQ}" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success "unknown ref storage format" '