diff --git a/lib/internal/errors.js b/lib/internal/errors.js
index 7c4728627731fe..bcb4635d7d88a6 100644
--- a/lib/internal/errors.js
+++ b/lib/internal/errors.js
@@ -1404,7 +1404,8 @@ E('ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
       // For cases like 'first argument'
       msg += `${name} `;
     } else {
-      const type = StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '.') ? 'property' : 'argument';
+      const type = (StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '.') ||
+                    StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '[')) ? 'property' : 'argument';
       msg += `"${name}" ${type} `;
     }
     msg += 'must be ';
@@ -1468,7 +1469,8 @@ E('ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE', (name, value, reason = 'is invalid') => {
   if (inspected.length > 128) {
     inspected = `${StringPrototypeSlice(inspected, 0, 128)}...`;
   }
-  const type = StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '.') ? 'property' : 'argument';
+  const type = (StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '.') ||
+                StringPrototypeIncludes(name, '[')) ? 'property' : 'argument';
   return `The ${type} '${name}' ${reason}. Received ${inspected}`;
 }, TypeError, RangeError, HideStackFramesError);
 E('ERR_INVALID_ASYNC_ID', 'Invalid %s value: %s', RangeError);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-buffer-concat.js b/test/parallel/test-buffer-concat.js
index 39e6ca7997ecba..32c81ebcd8dc56 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-buffer-concat.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-buffer-concat.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ assert.strictEqual(flatLongLen.toString(), check);
     Buffer.concat(value);
   }, {
     code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
-    message: 'The "list[0]" argument must be an instance of Buffer ' +
+    message: 'The "list[0]" property must be an instance of Buffer ' +
              `or Uint8Array.${common.invalidArgTypeHelper(value[0])}`
   });
 });
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ assert.throws(() => {
   Buffer.concat([Buffer.from('hello'), 3]);
 }, {
   code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
-  message: 'The "list[1]" argument must be an instance of Buffer ' +
+  message: 'The "list[1]" property must be an instance of Buffer ' +
            'or Uint8Array. Received type number (3)'
 });
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-diff.js b/test/parallel/test-diff.js
index dfc7027a3ed909..00a0e2b0b15d5d 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-diff.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-diff.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ describe('diff', () => {
     const expected = ['1', '2'];
 
     assert.throws(() => diff(actual, expected), {
-      message: 'The "actual[1]" argument must be of type string. Received an instance of Object'
+      message: 'The "actual[1]" property must be of type string. Received an instance of Object'
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-dns-setservers-type-check.js b/test/parallel/test-dns-setservers-type-check.js
index 007cae4f95d681..7daf02139e19c0 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-dns-setservers-type-check.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-dns-setservers-type-check.js
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ const promiseResolver = new dns.promises.Resolver();
     const errObj = {
       code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
       name: 'TypeError',
-      message: 'The "servers[0]" argument must be of type string.' +
+      message: 'The "servers[0]" property must be of type string.' +
                common.invalidArgTypeHelper(val[0])
     };
     assert.throws(
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ const promiseResolver = new dns.promises.Resolver();
     const errObj = {
       code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
       name: 'TypeError',
-      message: 'The "servers[0]" argument must be of type string.' +
+      message: 'The "servers[0]" property must be of type string.' +
               common.invalidArgTypeHelper(val[0])
     };
     assert.throws(() => {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-process-setgroups.js b/test/parallel/test-process-setgroups.js
index 49d147b6c2ddf5..b440b16a2b5650 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-process-setgroups.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-process-setgroups.js
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ assert.throws(
     {
       code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
       name: 'TypeError',
-      message: 'The "groups[0]" argument must be ' +
+      message: 'The "groups[0]" property must be ' +
                'one of type number or string.' +
                common.invalidArgTypeHelper(val)
     }
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-tls-set-default-ca-certificates-error.js b/test/parallel/test-tls-set-default-ca-certificates-error.js
index 1d529a97265a14..f1a7ef08de88a8 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-tls-set-default-ca-certificates-error.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-tls-set-default-ca-certificates-error.js
@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@ for (const invalid of [null, undefined, 42, {}, true]) {
   // Test input validation - should throw when passed an array with invalid elements
   assert.throws(() => tls.setDefaultCACertificates([invalid]), {
     code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
-    message: /The "certs\[0\]" argument must be of type string or an instance of ArrayBufferView/
+    message: /The "certs\[0\]" property must be of type string or an instance of ArrayBufferView/
   });
   // Verify that default certificates remain unchanged after error.
   assertEqualCerts(tls.getCACertificates('default'), defaultCerts);
 
   assert.throws(() => tls.setDefaultCACertificates([fixtureCert, invalid]), {
     code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
-    message: /The "certs\[1\]" argument must be of type string or an instance of ArrayBufferView/
+    message: /The "certs\[1\]" property must be of type string or an instance of ArrayBufferView/
   });
   // Verify that default certificates remain unchanged after error.
   assertEqualCerts(tls.getCACertificates('default'), defaultCerts);