diff --git a/src/cargo/core/package_id_spec.rs b/src/cargo/core/package_id_spec.rs
index b90d281bd65..37a6f5e7b3c 100644
--- a/src/cargo/core/package_id_spec.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/core/package_id_spec.rs
@@ -250,8 +250,8 @@ impl PackageIdSpec {
                      your project, and the specification \
                      `{}` is ambiguous.\n\
                      Please re-run this command \
-                     with `-p <spec>` where `<spec>` is one \
-                     of the following:",
+                     with one of the following \
+                     specifications:",
                     self.name(),
                     self
                 );
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/git.rs b/tests/testsuite/git.rs
index 7ed9b546cde..e27315346c2 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/git.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/git.rs
@@ -1887,8 +1887,8 @@ fn update_ambiguous() {
             "\
 [ERROR] There are multiple `bar` packages in your project, and the specification `bar` \
 is ambiguous.
-Please re-run this command with `-p <spec>` where `<spec>` is one of the \
-following:
+Please re-run this command with one of the \
+following specifications:
   bar@0.[..].0
   bar@0.[..].0
 ",
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/pkgid.rs b/tests/testsuite/pkgid.rs
index 944827e06d0..88d991e80d6 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/pkgid.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/pkgid.rs
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ fn multiple_versions() {
         .with_stderr(
             "\
 error: There are multiple `two-ver` packages in your project, and the specification `two-ver@0` is ambiguous.
-Please re-run this command with `-p <spec>` where `<spec>` is one of the following:
+Please re-run this command with one of the following specifications:
   two-ver@0.1.0
   two-ver@0.2.0
 ",
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index#two-ver@0.2.0
         .with_stderr(
             "\
 error: There are multiple `two-ver` packages in your project, and the specification `two-ver` is ambiguous.
-Please re-run this command with `-p <spec>` where `<spec>` is one of the following:
+Please re-run this command with one of the following specifications:
   two-ver@0.1.0
   two-ver@0.2.0
 ",
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/tree.rs b/tests/testsuite/tree.rs
index e2e74c4f954..16cc37f7e56 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/tree.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/tree.rs
@@ -1675,7 +1675,7 @@ fn ambiguous_name() {
         .with_stderr_contains(
             "\
 error: There are multiple `dep` packages in your project, and the specification `dep` is ambiguous.
-Please re-run this command with `-p <spec>` where `<spec>` is one of the following:
+Please re-run this command with one of the following specifications:
   dep@1.0.0
   dep@2.0.0
 ",