diff --git a/configs/testdata/invalid-files/variable-validation-error-msg-badref.tf b/configs/testdata/invalid-files/variable-validation-error-msg-badref.tf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8d6513f044ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/configs/testdata/invalid-files/variable-validation-error-msg-badref.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+
+locals {
+  foo = 1
+}
+
+variable "validation" {
+  default = 1
+  validation {
+    condition     = var.validation == 1
+    error_message = "Must be ${local.foo}." # ERROR: Invalid reference in variable validation
+  }
+}