diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3f45b87ecc5..b4b80f50394 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -568,16 +568,16 @@ checksum = "5b63caa9aa9397e2d9480a9b13673856c78d8ac123288526c37d7839f2a86990"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "config"
-version = "0.15.16"
+version = "0.15.18"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "cef036f0ecf99baef11555578630e2cca559909b4c50822dbba828c252d21c49"
+checksum = "180e549344080374f9b32ed41bf3b6b57885ff6a289367b3dbc10eea8acc1918"
 dependencies = [
  "indexmap 2.11.4",
  "pathdiff",
  "ron",
  "serde_core",
  "serde_json",
- "toml 0.9.0",
+ "toml 0.9.8",
  "winnow",
 ]
 
@@ -3683,12 +3683,12 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "toml"
-version = "0.9.0"
+version = "0.9.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f271e09bde39ab52250160a67e88577e0559ad77e9085de6e9051a2c4353f8f8"
+checksum = "f0dc8b1fb61449e27716ec0e1bdf0f6b8f3e8f6b05391e8497b8b6d7804ea6d8"
 dependencies = [
  "indexmap 2.11.4",
- "serde",
+ "serde_core",
  "serde_spanned 1.0.3",
  "toml_datetime 0.7.3",
  "toml_parser",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 59059c65482..31426f56097 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ cfg-if = "1.0.3"
 color-eyre = "0.6.5"
 # config's "preserve_order" feature is needed for preserving the order of
 # setup scripts in .config/nextest.toml.
-config = { version = "0.15.16", default-features = false, features = [
+config = { version = "0.15.18", default-features = false, features = [
     "toml",
     "preserve_order",
 ] }
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/archive.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/archive.rs
index 7f9896b4d54..e638440f49e 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/archive.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/archive.rs
@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             archive.include = { path = "foo", relative-to = "target" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r"invalid type: map, expected a sequence"
         ; "missing list")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -361,7 +362,8 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "foo" }
             ]
         "#},
-        r"missing field `relative-to`"
+        ConfigErrorKind::NotFound,
+        r#"profile.default.archive.include[0]relative-to"#
         ; "missing relative-to")]
     #[test_case(
         indoc!{r#"
@@ -370,6 +372,7 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "bar", relative-to = "unknown" }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r"enum ArchiveRelativeTo does not have variant constructor unknown"
         ; "invalid relative-to")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -379,6 +382,7 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "bar", relative-to = "target", depth = -1 }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r#"invalid value: integer `-1`, expected a non-negative integer or "infinite""#
         ; "negative depth")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -388,6 +392,7 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "foo/../bar", relative-to = "target" }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r#"invalid value: string "foo/../bar", expected a relative path with no parent components"#
         ; "parent component")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -397,6 +402,7 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "/foo/bar", relative-to = "target" }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r#"invalid value: string "/foo/bar", expected a relative path with no parent components"#
         ; "absolute path")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -406,6 +412,7 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "foo", relative-to = "target", on-missing = "unknown" }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r#"invalid value: string "unknown", expected a string: "ignore", "warn", or "error""#
         ; "invalid on-missing")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -415,9 +422,14 @@ mod tests {
                 { path = "foo", relative-to = "target", on-missing = 42 }
             ]
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         r#"invalid type: integer `42`, expected a string: "ignore", "warn", or "error""#
         ; "invalid on-missing type")]
-    fn parse_invalid(config_contents: &str, expected_message: &str) {
+    fn parse_invalid(
+        config_contents: &str,
+        expected_kind: ConfigErrorKind,
+        expected_message: &str,
+    ) {
         let workspace_dir = tempdir().unwrap();
 
         let graph = temp_workspace(&workspace_dir, config_contents);
@@ -434,14 +446,18 @@ mod tests {
         .expect_err("config expected to be invalid");
 
         let message = match config_err.kind() {
-            ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError(path_error) => match path_error.inner() {
-                ConfigError::Message(message) => message,
-                other => {
-                    panic!(
-                        "for config error {config_err:?}, expected ConfigError::Message for inner error {other:?}"
-                    );
+            ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError(path_error) => {
+                match (path_error.inner(), expected_kind) {
+                    (ConfigError::NotFound(message), ConfigErrorKind::NotFound) => message,
+                    (ConfigError::Message(message), ConfigErrorKind::Message) => message,
+                    (other, expected) => {
+                        panic!(
+                            "for config error {config_err:?}, expected \
+                             ConfigErrorKind::{expected:?} for inner error {other:?}"
+                        );
+                    }
                 }
-            },
+            }
             other => {
                 panic!(
                     "for config error {other:?}, expected ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError"
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/leak_timeout.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/leak_timeout.rs
index 5914b5acdba..d979c4a3761 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/leak_timeout.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/leak_timeout.rs
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.ci]
             leak-timeout = { result = "fail" }
         "#},
-        Err("original: missing field `period`"),
+        Err(r#"original: missing configuration field "profile.ci.leak-timeout.period""#),
         None
 
         ; "partial leak-timeout table should error"
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/max_fail.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/max_fail.rs
index b1761b1fb79..df735b4539a 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/max_fail.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/max_fail.rs
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.custom]
             fail-fast = { invalid-key = 1 }
         "#},
-        "profile.custom.fail-fast: missing field `max-fail`"
+        r#"profile.custom.fail-fast: missing configuration field "profile.custom.fail-fast.max-fail""#
         ; "invalid map key"
     )]
     #[test_case(
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/retry_policy.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/retry_policy.rs
index d12691d25fd..a91fb10e9b0 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/retry_policy.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/retry_policy.rs
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "foo" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "unknown variant `foo`, expected `fixed` or `exponential`"
         ; "invalid value for backoff")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -307,13 +308,15 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "fixed" }
         "#},
-        "missing field `count`"
+        ConfigErrorKind::NotFound,
+        "profile.default.retries.count"
         ; "fixed specified without count")]
     #[test_case(
         indoc!{r#"
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "fixed", count = 1, delay = "foobar" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "invalid value: string \"foobar\", expected a duration"
         ; "delay is not a valid duration")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -321,6 +324,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "fixed", count = 1, jitter = true }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "`jitter` cannot be true if `delay` isn't specified or is zero"
         ; "jitter specified without delay")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -328,6 +332,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "fixed", count = 1, max-delay = "10s" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "unknown field `max-delay`, expected one of `count`, `delay`, `jitter`"
         ; "max-delay is incompatible with fixed backoff")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -335,20 +340,23 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", count = 1 }
         "#},
-        "missing field `delay`"
+        ConfigErrorKind::NotFound,
+        "profile.default.retries.delay"
         ; "exponential backoff must specify delay")]
     #[test_case(
         indoc!{r#"
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", delay = "1s" }
         "#},
-        "missing field `count`"
+        ConfigErrorKind::NotFound,
+        "profile.default.retries.count"
         ; "exponential backoff must specify count")]
     #[test_case(
         indoc!{r#"
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", count = 0, delay = "1s" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "`count` cannot be zero with exponential backoff"
         ; "exponential backoff must have a non-zero count")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -356,6 +364,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", count = 1, delay = "0s" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "`delay` cannot be zero with exponential backoff"
         ; "exponential backoff must have a non-zero delay")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -363,6 +372,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", count = 1, delay = "1s", max-delay = "0s" }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "`max-delay` cannot be zero with exponential backoff"
         ; "exponential backoff must have a non-zero max delay")]
     #[test_case(
@@ -370,9 +380,14 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.default]
             retries = { backoff = "exponential", count = 1, delay = "4s", max-delay = "2s", jitter = true }
         "#},
+        ConfigErrorKind::Message,
         "`max-delay` cannot be less than delay"
         ; "max-delay greater than delay")]
-    fn parse_retries_invalid(config_contents: &str, expected_message: &str) {
+    fn parse_retries_invalid(
+        config_contents: &str,
+        expected_kind: ConfigErrorKind,
+        expected_message: &str,
+    ) {
         let workspace_dir = tempdir().unwrap();
 
         let graph = temp_workspace(&workspace_dir, config_contents);
@@ -388,14 +403,18 @@ mod tests {
         .expect_err("config expected to be invalid");
 
         let message = match config_err.kind() {
-            ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError(path_error) => match path_error.inner() {
-                ConfigError::Message(message) => message,
-                other => {
-                    panic!(
-                        "for config error {config_err:?}, expected ConfigError::Message for inner error {other:?}"
-                    );
+            ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError(path_error) => {
+                match (path_error.inner(), expected_kind) {
+                    (ConfigError::Message(message), ConfigErrorKind::Message) => message,
+                    (ConfigError::NotFound(message), ConfigErrorKind::NotFound) => message,
+                    (other, expected) => {
+                        panic!(
+                            "for config error {config_err:?}, expected \
+                             ConfigErrorKind::{expected:?} for inner error {other:?}"
+                        );
+                    }
                 }
-            },
+            }
             other => {
                 panic!(
                     "for config error {other:?}, expected ConfigParseErrorKind::DeserializeError"
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/slow_timeout.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/slow_timeout.rs
index fd00bcb76f9..03e04b98931 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/slow_timeout.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/elements/slow_timeout.rs
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ mod tests {
             [profile.ci]
             slow-timeout = { terminate-after = 3 }
         "#},
-        Err("original: missing field `period`"),
+        Err("original: missing configuration field \"profile.ci.slow-timeout.period\""),
         None
 
         ; "partial slow-timeout table should error"
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/scripts/imp.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/scripts/imp.rs
index 90241d20044..29777384ac2 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/scripts/imp.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/scripts/imp.rs
@@ -1200,7 +1200,7 @@ mod tests {
         indoc! {r#"
             [scripts.setup.foo]
         "#},
-        "scripts.setup.foo: missing field `command`"
+        r#"scripts.setup.foo: missing configuration field "scripts.setup.foo.command""#
 
         ; "missing command"
     )]
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ mod tests {
             [scripts.setup.foo]
             command = { relative-to = "target" }
         "#},
-        "missing field `command-line`"
+        r#"missing configuration field "scripts.setup.foo.command.command-line""#
 
         ; "missing command-line in table"
     )]
diff --git a/nextest-runner/src/config/utils/test_helpers.rs b/nextest-runner/src/config/utils/test_helpers.rs
index b5c118577fc..32e3ba91ab1 100644
--- a/nextest-runner/src/config/utils/test_helpers.rs
+++ b/nextest-runner/src/config/utils/test_helpers.rs
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ pub(in crate::config) struct BinaryQueryCreator<'a> {
     platform: BuildPlatform,
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
+pub(in crate::config) enum ConfigErrorKind {
+    NotFound,
+    Message,
+}
+
 impl BinaryQueryCreator<'_> {
     pub(in crate::config) fn to_query(&self) -> BinaryQuery<'_> {
         BinaryQuery {