diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/BarcodeSet.scala b/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/BarcodeSet.scala
index d5345e1..9f6f9ad 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/BarcodeSet.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/BarcodeSet.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ object BarcodeSet:
         .asScala
         .toList
         .map(_.trim)
-        .traverse(parseBarcode(s => InvalidFileException(file, s"Invalid DNA barcode '$s'")))
+        .traverse(parseBarcode(s => InvalidFileException(file, s"Invalid DNA barcode `$s`")))
         .map(bcs => new BarcodeSet(bcs.toSet))
         .flatTap(checkSet(file, _))
         .get // throws if an error was encountered
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/ReferenceData.scala b/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/ReferenceData.scala
index 9b1ded7..16f8327 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/ReferenceData.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/broadinstitute/gpp/poolq3/parser/ReferenceData.scala
@@ -93,11 +93,11 @@ object ReferenceData:
             // and reject cases where the barcode is empty but the ID is non-empty
             if barcode.isEmpty && id.isEmpty then None
             else if isReferenceBarcode(barcode) then Some(ReferenceEntry(barcode, id))
-            else throw InvalidFileException(file, s"Invalid DNA barcode '$barcode' for ID '$id'")
+            else throw InvalidFileException(file, s"Invalid DNA barcode '$barcode' for ID `$id`")
           case _ =>
             throw InvalidFileException(
               file,
-              s"Incorrect number of columns. At least 2 required, got: ${xs.length}: $xs"
+              s"Incorrect number of columns. At least 2 required, got: ${xs.length}: ${xs.mkString("`", "`, `", "`")}"
             )
       }