diff --git a/lib/internal/policy/manifest.js b/lib/internal/policy/manifest.js
index 42ff63e87dc9cf..a601113182674e 100644
--- a/lib/internal/policy/manifest.js
+++ b/lib/internal/policy/manifest.js
@@ -136,9 +136,8 @@ class DependencyMapperInstance {
           if (!target) {
             throw new ERR_MANIFEST_INVALID_SPECIFIER(
               this.href,
-              target +
-                ', pattern needs to have a single' +
-                'trailing "*" in target');
+              `${target}, pattern needs to have a single trailing "*" in target`
+            );
           }
           const prefix = target[1];
           const suffix = target[2];
diff --git a/test/fixtures/policy-manifest/invalid.json b/test/fixtures/policy-manifest/invalid.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a8a0deb2cf7e07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/policy-manifest/invalid.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "resources": {
+    "./fhqwhgads.js": {
+      "dependencies": {
+          "**": true
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js b/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a8494175f3e68f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const common = require('../common');
+
+if (!common.hasCrypto)
+  common.skip('missing crypto');
+
+common.requireNoPackageJSONAbove();
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
+const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures.js');
+
+const policyFilepath = fixtures.path('policy-manifest', 'invalid.json');
+
+const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [
+  '--experimental-policy',
+  policyFilepath,
+  './fhqwhgads.js',
+]);
+
+assert.notStrictEqual(result.status, 0);
+const stderr = result.stderr.toString();
+assert.match(stderr, /ERR_MANIFEST_INVALID_SPECIFIER/);
+assert.match(stderr, /pattern needs to have a single trailing "\*"/);