diff --git a/src/parse_tree.cpp b/src/parse_tree.cpp
index 40f154bc1..efb6672d6 100644
--- a/src/parse_tree.cpp
+++ b/src/parse_tree.cpp
@@ -44,14 +44,17 @@ parse_error_code_t parse_error_from_tokenizer_error(tokenizer_error_t err) {
 wcstring parse_error_t::describe_with_prefix(const wcstring &src, const wcstring &prefix,
                                              bool is_interactive, bool skip_caret) const {
     wcstring result = prefix;
+    // Some errors don't have their message passed in, so we construct them here.
+    // This affects e.g. `eval "a=(foo)"`
     switch (code) {
         default:
             if (skip_caret && this->text.empty()) return L"";
+            result.append(this->text);
             break;
         case parse_error_andor_in_pipeline:
             append_format(result, INVALID_PIPELINE_CMD_ERR_MSG,
                           src.substr(this->source_start, this->source_length).c_str());
-            return result;
+            break;
         case parse_error_bare_variable_assignment: {
             wcstring assignment_src = src.substr(this->source_start, this->source_length);
             maybe_t<size_t> equals_pos = variable_assignment_equals_pos(assignment_src);
@@ -60,10 +63,9 @@ wcstring parse_error_t::describe_with_prefix(const wcstring &src, const wcstring
             wcstring value = assignment_src.substr(*equals_pos + 1);
             append_format(result, ERROR_BAD_COMMAND_ASSIGN_ERR_MSG, variable.c_str(),
                           value.c_str());
-            return result;
+            break;
         }
     }
-    result.append(this->text);
 
     size_t start = source_start;
     size_t len = source_length;
diff --git a/tests/checks/andor.fish b/tests/checks/andor.fish
index 1698a1884..c228c9ccf 100644
--- a/tests/checks/andor.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/andor.fish
@@ -4,9 +4,13 @@ set -xl LANG C # uniform quotes
 
 eval 'true | and'
 # CHECKERR: {{.*}}: The 'and' command can not be used in a pipeline
+# CHECKERR: true | and
+# CHECKERR:        ^~^
 
 eval 'true | or'
 # CHECKERR: {{.*}}: The 'or' command can not be used in a pipeline
+# CHECKERR: true | or
+# CHECKERR:        ^^
 
 # Verify and/or behavior with if and while
 if false; or true
diff --git a/tests/checks/invocation.fish b/tests/checks/invocation.fish
index 1e5bd3722..f81a67ed0 100644
--- a/tests/checks/invocation.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/invocation.fish
@@ -94,3 +94,14 @@ $fish --no-config -c 'echo $$ oh no syntax error' -c 'echo this works'
 $fish --no-config .
 # CHECKERR: error: Unable to read input file: Is a directory
 # CHECKERR: warning: Error while reading file .
+
+$fish --no-config -c 'echo notprinted; echo foo; a=b'
+# CHECKERR: fish: Unsupported use of '='. In fish, please use 'set a b'.
+# CHECKERR: echo notprinted; echo foo; a=b
+# CHECKERR:                            ^~^
+
+$fish --no-config -c 'echo notprinted | and true'
+# CHECKERR: fish: The 'and' command can not be used in a pipeline
+# CHECKERR: echo notprinted | and true
+# CHECKERR:                   ^~^
+
diff --git a/tests/checks/variable-assignment.fish b/tests/checks/variable-assignment.fish
index 7071f96a3..d5fb6b6ef 100644
--- a/tests/checks/variable-assignment.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/variable-assignment.fish
@@ -87,10 +87,16 @@ complete -C'a=b envxalias '
 # Eval invalid grammar to allow fish to parse this file
 eval 'a=(echo b)'
 # CHECKERR: {{.*}}: Unsupported use of '='. In fish, please use 'set a (echo b)'.
+# CHECKERR: a=(echo b)
+# CHECKERR: ^~~~~~~~~^
 eval ': | a=b'
 # CHECKERR: {{.*}}: Unsupported use of '='. In fish, please use 'set a b'.
+# CHECKERR: : | a=b
+# CHECKERR:     ^~^
 eval 'not a=b'
 # CHECKERR: {{.*}}: Unsupported use of '='. In fish, please use 'set a b'.
+# CHECKERR: not a=b
+# CHECKERR:     ^~^
 
 complete -c foo -xa '$a'
 a=b complete -C'foo '