diff --git a/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete.go b/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete.go
index 73bb11e06..9bfda7907 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func NewCmdDelete(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*DeleteOptions) error) *cobra.Co
 			}
 
 			if opts.Ref != "" && len(args) == 0 {
-				return cmdutil.FlagErrorf("--ref cannot be used without cache key/ID")
+				return cmdutil.FlagErrorf("must provide a cache key")
 			}
 
 			if !opts.DeleteAll && len(args) == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete_test.go b/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete_test.go
index 08f202922..3727e4a63 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/cache/delete/delete_test.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func TestNewCmdDelete(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:     "ref flag without cache key",
 			cli:      "--ref refs/heads/main",
-			wantsErr: "--ref cannot be used without cache key/ID",
+			wantsErr: "must provide a cache key",
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "ref flag with all flag",