diff --git a/lib/node-arguments.js b/lib/node-arguments.js
index 65da7c5d9..7848a0304 100644
--- a/lib/node-arguments.js
+++ b/lib/node-arguments.js
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@ import {tokenizeArgs} from 'args-tokenizer';
 export default function normalizeNodeArguments(fromConf = [], fromArgv = '') {
 	let parsedArgv = [];
 	if (fromArgv !== '') {
-		parsedArgv = tokenizeArgs(fromArgv);
+		try {
+			parsedArgv = tokenizeArgs(fromArgv);
+		} catch {
+			throw new Error('Could not parse `--node-arguments` value. Make sure all strings are closed and backslashes are used correctly.');
+		}
 	}
 
 	return [...process.execArgv, ...fromConf, ...parsedArgv];
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index d430b0b9b..840ff800d 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 				"acorn": "^8.13.0",
 				"acorn-walk": "^8.3.4",
 				"ansi-styles": "^6.2.1",
-				"args-tokenizer": "^0.2.1",
+				"args-tokenizer": "^0.3.0",
 				"arrify": "^3.0.0",
 				"callsites": "^4.2.0",
 				"cbor": "^9.0.2",
@@ -3020,9 +3020,9 @@
 			}
 		},
 		"node_modules/args-tokenizer": {
-			"version": "0.2.1",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/args-tokenizer/-/args-tokenizer-0.2.1.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-1hd00qLJxfSYLirIJherrIBbLkpYlLttu2lxQvVJWY+ohZgEZ2Sf9Rnsx5C1kQNo22eb9tV8/l8TWpjYKtwNIw==",
+			"version": "0.3.0",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/args-tokenizer/-/args-tokenizer-0.3.0.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-xXAd7G2Mll5W8uo37GETpQ2VrE84M181Z7ugHFGQnJZ50M2mbOv0osSZ9VsSgPfJQ+LVG0prSi0th+ELMsno7Q==",
 			"license": "MIT"
 		},
 		"node_modules/array-buffer-byte-length": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b72309651..32df09e6b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
 		"acorn": "^8.13.0",
 		"acorn-walk": "^8.3.4",
 		"ansi-styles": "^6.2.1",
-		"args-tokenizer": "^0.2.1",
+		"args-tokenizer": "^0.3.0",
 		"arrify": "^3.0.0",
 		"callsites": "^4.2.0",
 		"cbor": "^9.0.2",
@@ -151,6 +151,5 @@
 	},
 	"volta": {
 		"node": "22.10.0"
-	},
-	"packageManager": "pnpm@9.15.0+sha512.76e2379760a4328ec4415815bcd6628dee727af3779aaa4c914e3944156c4299921a89f976381ee107d41f12cfa4b66681ca9c718f0668fa0831ed4c6d8ba56c"
+	}
 }
diff --git a/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.md b/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.md
index 7c8cc54ea..9fdb63532 100644
--- a/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.md
+++ b/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.md
@@ -37,11 +37,11 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       },
     ]
 
-## forgive incomplete --node-arguments
+## detects incomplete --node-arguments
 
-> tests pass
+> fails with message
 
-    []
+    'Could not parse `--node-arguments` value. Make sure all strings are closed and backslashes are used correctly.'
 
 ## reads node arguments from config
 
diff --git a/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.snap b/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.snap
index c908e36a2..bbccccf41 100644
Binary files a/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.snap and b/test/node-arguments/snapshots/test.js.snap differ
diff --git a/test/node-arguments/test.js b/test/node-arguments/test.js
index cdf6d8410..92134a0f7 100644
--- a/test/node-arguments/test.js
+++ b/test/node-arguments/test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import test from '@ava/test';
 
-import {cwd, fixture} from '../helpers/exec.js';
+import {cleanOutput, cwd, fixture} from '../helpers/exec.js';
 
 test('passed node arguments to workers', async t => {
 	const options = {
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ test('`filterNodeArgumentsForWorkerThreads` configuration ignored for worker pro
 	t.snapshot(result.stats.passed, 'tests pass');
 });
 
-test('forgive incomplete --node-arguments', async t => {
+test('detects incomplete --node-arguments', async t => {
 	const options = {
 		cwd: cwd('node-arguments'),
 	};
 
 	const result = await t.throwsAsync(fixture(['--node-arguments="--foo=\'bar"', 'node-arguments.js'], options));
 
-	t.snapshot(result.stats.passed, 'tests pass');
+	t.snapshot(cleanOutput(result.stderr), 'fails with message');
 });
 
 test('reads node arguments from config', async t => {