diff --git a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPath.java b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPath.java
index db352e7e4c2..73987b6746c 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPath.java
+++ b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPath.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.kafka.tools;
 
+import org.apache.kafka.common.config.ConfigException;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Exit;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Utils;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.runtime.WorkerConfig;
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ public class ConnectPluginPath {
         } catch (ArgumentParserException e) {
             parser.handleError(e);
             return 1;
-        } catch (TerseException e) {
+        } catch (TerseException | ConfigException e) {
             err.println(e.getMessage());
             return 2;
         } catch (Throwable e) {
@@ -199,17 +200,17 @@ public class ConnectPluginPath {
         return pluginLocations;
     }
 
-    private static void validatePluginPath(String pluginPath, String configName) throws TerseException {
+    private static void validatePluginPath(String pluginPath, String configName) throws ConfigException {
         String trimmed = pluginPath.trim();
         if (trimmed.isEmpty()) {
-            throw new TerseException("'" + configName + "' must not be empty.");
+            throw new ConfigException("'" + configName + "' must not be empty.");
         }
 
         String[] pluginPathElements = COMMA_WITH_WHITESPACE.split(trimmed, -1);
 
         for (String path : pluginPathElements) {
             if (path.isEmpty()) {
-                throw new TerseException("'" + configName + "' values must not be empty.");
+                throw new ConfigException("'" + configName + "' values must not be empty.");
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPathTest.java b/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPathTest.java
index 192161cc903..aff3f734ba7 100644
--- a/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPathTest.java
+++ b/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/ConnectPluginPathTest.java
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ public class ConnectPluginPathTest {
                 ""
         );
         assertNotEquals(0, res.returnCode);
-        assertTrue("'--plugin-path' must not be empty.\n".equals(res.err));
+        assertEquals("'--plugin-path' must not be empty.\n", res.err);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ public class ConnectPluginPathTest {
                 "location-a,,location-b"
         );
         assertNotEquals(0, res.returnCode);
-        assertTrue("'--plugin-path' values must not be empty.\n".equals(res.err));
+        assertEquals("'--plugin-path' values must not be empty.\n", res.err);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ public class ConnectPluginPathTest {
                 configPath.toString()
         );
         assertNotEquals(0, res.returnCode);
-        assertTrue("'plugin.path' must not be empty.\n".equals(res.err));
+        assertEquals("'plugin.path' must not be empty.\n", res.err);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ public class ConnectPluginPathTest {
                 configPath.toString()
         );
         assertNotEquals(0, res.returnCode);
-        assertTrue("'plugin.path' values must not be empty.\n".equals(res.err));
+        assertEquals("'plugin.path' values must not be empty.\n", res.err);
     }
 
     private static Map<String, List<String[]>> assertListSuccess(CommandResult result) {