diff --git a/python/ctsm/site_and_regional/single_point_case.py b/python/ctsm/site_and_regional/single_point_case.py
index 33b4dcdbfa..448f9d9229 100644
--- a/python/ctsm/site_and_regional/single_point_case.py
+++ b/python/ctsm/site_and_regional/single_point_case.py
@@ -220,10 +220,10 @@ def check_dom_pft(self):
             if min_dom_pft < NAT_PFT <= max_dom_pft:
                 err_msg = (
                     "WARNING, you are subsetting using mixed land "
-                    + "units that have both natural pfts and crop cfts. Check "
-                    + "that your surface dataset looks correct."
+                    "units that have both natural pfts and crop cfts. Check "
+                    "your surface dataset."
                 )
-                logger.info(err_msg)
+                raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(err_msg)
 
     def check_nonveg(self):
         """
diff --git a/python/ctsm/test/test_unit_singlept_data.py b/python/ctsm/test/test_unit_singlept_data.py
index 4d2e59aa32..7d239c5243 100755
--- a/python/ctsm/test/test_unit_singlept_data.py
+++ b/python/ctsm/test/test_unit_singlept_data.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ def test_check_dom_pft_mixed_range(self):
         single_point.dom_pft = [1, 5, 15]
         single_point.num_pft = 78
         with self.assertRaisesRegex(
-            argparse.ArgumentTypeError, "mixed land units is not possible*"
+            argparse.ArgumentTypeError, "WARNING, you are subsetting using mixed land*"
         ):
             single_point.check_dom_pft()