diff --git a/src/cargo/util/toml/mod.rs b/src/cargo/util/toml/mod.rs
index 023a5b5c1e7..8de66b0ef42 100644
--- a/src/cargo/util/toml/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/util/toml/mod.rs
@@ -577,13 +577,25 @@ fn normalize_toml(
         normalized_toml.badges = original_toml.badges.clone();
     } else {
         if let Some(field) = original_toml.requires_package().next() {
-            bail!("this virtual manifest specifies a `{field}` section, which is not allowed");
+            return Err(field_requires_package_error(field));
         }
     }
 
     Ok(normalized_toml)
 }
 
+fn field_requires_package_error(field: &str) -> anyhow::Error {
+    let (table_open, table_close) = if matches!(field, "bin" | "example" | "test" | "bench") {
+        ("[[", "]]")
+    } else {
+        ("[", "]")
+    };
+    let toml_table = format_args!("{table_open}{field}{table_close}");
+    anyhow!(
+        "this virtual manifest does not have a `[package]` section, which is required when specifying the `{toml_table}` section"
+    )
+}
+
 fn normalize_patch<'a>(
     gctx: &GlobalContext,
     original_patch: Option<&BTreeMap<String, BTreeMap<PackageName, TomlDependency>>>,
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/workspaces.rs b/tests/testsuite/workspaces.rs
index 0f8ab785baf..7ca3272833e 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/workspaces.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/workspaces.rs
@@ -2296,7 +2296,6 @@ fn ws_err_unused() {
         "[badges]",
         "[lints]",
     ] {
-        let key = table.trim_start_matches('[').trim_end_matches(']');
         let p = project()
             .file(
                 "Cargo.toml",
@@ -2319,7 +2318,7 @@ fn ws_err_unused() {
 [ERROR] failed to parse manifest at `[..]/foo/Cargo.toml`
 
 Caused by:
-  this virtual manifest specifies a `{key}` section, which is not allowed
+  this virtual manifest does not have a `[package]` section, which is required when specifying the `{table}` section
 ",
             ))
             .run();