diff --git a/src/cargo/core/dependency.rs b/src/cargo/core/dependency.rs
index 2a7255c7f22..11192a86417 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/dependency.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/dependency.rs
@@ -323,6 +323,12 @@ impl Dependency {
         self
     }
 
+    /// Sets the version requirement as any for this dependency.
+    pub fn set_version_req_as_any(&mut self) -> &mut Dependency {
+        Rc::make_mut(&mut self.inner).req = OptVersionReq::Any;
+        self
+    }
+
     pub fn set_platform(&mut self, platform: Option<Platform>) -> &mut Dependency {
         Rc::make_mut(&mut self.inner).platform = platform;
         self
diff --git a/src/cargo/core/resolver/errors.rs b/src/cargo/core/resolver/errors.rs
index 3353468323e..518edba4e98 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/resolver/errors.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/resolver/errors.rs
@@ -224,9 +224,8 @@ pub(super) fn activation_error(
     // Maybe the user mistyped the ver_req? Like `dep="2"` when `dep="0.2"`
     // was meant. So we re-query the registry with `dep="*"` so we can
     // list a few versions that were actually found.
-    let all_req = semver::VersionReq::parse("*").unwrap();
     let mut new_dep = dep.clone();
-    new_dep.set_version_req(all_req);
+    new_dep.set_version_req_as_any();
 
     let mut candidates = loop {
         match registry.query_vec(&new_dep, QueryKind::Exact) {
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/patch.rs b/tests/testsuite/patch.rs
index 8e93fce96da..1d7aad64732 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/patch.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/patch.rs
@@ -2691,7 +2691,7 @@ fn mismatched_version_with_prerelease() {
         .with_stderr(
             r#"[UPDATING] `dummy-registry` index
 [ERROR] failed to select a version for the requirement `prerelease-deps = "^0.1.0"`
-candidate versions found which didn't match: 0.0.1
+candidate versions found which didn't match: 0.1.1-pre1, 0.0.1
 location searched: `dummy-registry` index (which is replacing registry `crates-io`)
 required by package `foo v0.1.0 [..]`
 perhaps a crate was updated and forgotten to be re-vendored?"#,
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/registry.rs b/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
index 51bacc32220..1aa6f45865e 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/registry.rs
@@ -1756,10 +1756,8 @@ fn use_semver_package_incorrectly() {
         .with_status(101)
         .with_stderr(
             "\
-error: no matching package found
-searched package name: `a`
-prerelease package needs to be specified explicitly
-a = { version = \"0.1.1-alpha.0\" }
+error: failed to select a version for the requirement `a = \"^0.1\"`
+candidate versions found which didn't match: 0.1.1-alpha.0
 location searched: [..]
 required by package `b v0.1.0 ([..])`
 ",